Bottom of the barrel?

Some of you may think that I have finally succumbed to scraping the bottom of the barrel after you see this post. But really, it's not true. Ok, it IS more photos of the backs of buildings, but I'm not taking the pictures just to fill up blog space. As I said earlier this week, I've always been interested in and fascinated by back alleys in small towns. In fact, I remembered that even when I was a kid I was always exploring what was behind buildings. This was especially so when it came to motels. As a child, when traveling with my parents I would often take a walk out behind the motel just to see what was back there. Sometimes there were cows, and sometimes there were corn fields. Sometimes there was just litter and trash. Once, in Virginia, our motel backed up to a small mountain/large hill, and as I was exploring what was behind the building, a small explosion up on the mountain made me almost jump out of my socks and flee back to my parents. It turns out that they were doing some blasting for a mining operation up there.

Today, I'm showing you more back alleys because 1) I had time to take some photos on my way to Afton this morning, and 2) it was a very uneventful day at Afton Station today, so I don't have that much to talk about.

We had only two visitors, both from Collinsville, Oklahoma. I think the lack of visitors (after having a record 18 on Tuesday) had to do with the fact that David had his huge, 44-foot long motorhome out for a spring cleaning in the driveway, thus blocking almost the entire view of the Station from Route 66. It was a nice day, however. Marly was there helping David, and it's the first time he's been around for almost two months, so it was nice to see him. Tattoo Man dropped in for a little while to have me take a better picture of his new Waldmire tattoo, by request of Jim Conkle of the Route 66 Pulse, who wants to use the photo in the next issue. Jim himself called me this morning from his home in California and we had a great chat. The next issue is almost done and he'll be delivering it in person in a couple of weeks.

OK, here we go with the photos of back alleys!

Back alley Vinita, OK

Behind Main St. -- Chelsea, OK

Afton, OK -- Palmer Hotel block from the rear

Odds and Ends on a Non-Afton Day

I love back alleys. (Please don't judge me.) There's just something grittily romantic about the back sides of stores. Whenever possible, I roam around and try to find what's behind fancy Main Street storefronts. You never know what you'll see back there, other than trash cans and discarded boxes. In Chandler, Oklahoma, there's a very old brick outhouse behind a row of Main Street stores. In the town where I used to live, I found a tiny little locksmith shop that was unknown to nearly everyone in town. There's a life back there. You just have to find it.

Yesterday morning I was driving around Claremore because I was running early on my trip to Afton. Claremore has a couple of picturesque back alleys. One of them is pictured above. After Claremore, I drove around Chelsea a little bit and found this bench. A gentleman from Afton brought me a magazine from 1931 which was introducing some of the new cars for the year. Since Afton Station specializes in Packards, I scanned this one. They sure don't make 'em like they used to. (I love to say that. It makes me feel SO ancient!) There are also some pretty nifty Ford and Chevrolet ads in the magazine, which I'll scan and post another time. It was published right as the Depression was starting to ease up, so some of the articles in the magazine had certain pertinence to today's economic situation.

That's all for today, folks.

High on Oxygen

I've mentioned before that I'm the pits when it comes to multitasking. When people say, "She can't walk and chew gum", they're talking about me. In this respect, the car radio is both my friend and my nemesis. Previously, I've confessed that I can't listen to music when driving. I can, however, listen to National Public Radio or Howard Stern, as I enjoy talk radio. But on the way to Afton this morning, I did an experiment. I turned the radio off. I saw and felt so much more! It was a remarkable experience to absorb the sounds of silence through every pore of my body. I was inspired! I was Queen of the Road! I even opened the windows (oh, horrors!) and enjoyed the cool morning air and changing aromas as I passed between small towns and countryside. I stopped in Chelsea, which is a never-ending treasure trove of photo ops, and snapped a few pictures. (If any of these are repeats, 'scuse me. I was under the influence of fresh air.)

The under-road tunnel in Chelsea. It was built when there was so much traffic going through town on Route 66 that it was unsafe to cross above ground. You can see the other side of it in the distance.

Chelsea's Dollar Store is in the old school auditorium. Different!

Look! Look! A leg lamp in the window of a flea market in Chelsea! As a huge fan of "A Christmas Story", I want it!

Then, I went to the car wash in Vinita, where I haven't been so turned on by pretty colors since the last time I indulged in a mind-altering substance. This fresh air thing is groovy, man!

At the Vinita car wash, they use strange colored soap! Only in Oklahoma..... ChinMex cuisine?!

____________

Now I'm in Afton, and I'm crashing. No visitors yet, but it's only 9:30. I won't be needing the a/c today, and that will be easy on the budget and easy on the eardrums, too. The door is open and the cool air followed me into the Station.

____________

Once things started heating up, they got hot fast. Tattoo Man and Betty both arrived, followed by a parade of visitors, and who could blame folks for wanting to be out and about on such a perfect day. In fact, toward the end of the day, there was borderline pandemonium. There were 34 visitors altogether, and here's where they hailed from:

Wyandotte, Vinita, Grove OK, Fayetteville and Little Rock AR, Steamboat Springs CO, Seymour TX, Ozark and St. Louis MO, Chicago IL, Phoenix AZ, Dayton and Fairborne OH, and Lausanne, Switzerland. Chris, the fellow who works for David sometimes, came in with his wife and cute little 7-month-old son.

This awesome 1934 Pontiac was being driven across the country by a guy from Arizona. Here, some motorcycle guys from Little Rock are admiring it.

It was a truly great day. Back to Afton tomorrow, but for now.... dinner and sleep!

Bar-B-Q and Bar-Ber-Shop

Today, just a couple of Route 66 photos I found in my files. . .

This is what remains of an old barbeque joint in Vinita. They still have quite a stash of wood, considering the place hasn't been open for years. Here's the Cowboy Cut Barber Shop in Chelsea. It's small and cute.

One of these days I'm going to run out of picturesque buildings to photograph between Tulsa and Afton, and I'll have to start posting pictures of McDonald's and Subway. No, not really.

I'll check in again tomorrow with Tuesday tales from Afton Station.

Rootie Tattootie..... and more

It's a cold and quiet day, so far, at Afton Station today. Although I arrived 45 minutes early, Ron "Tattoo Man" Jones was already here and had opened up the place. It was good to see him after his 5-week recuperation from surgery. He was sporting the tattoo he got yesterday -- his 75th Route 66 tattoo. This one is an image of "Rootie", the character that artist and author Jerry McClanahan uses with his signature. Jerry is the author of the definitive Route 66 guidebook. This one is on Tattoo Man's shoulder.
I'm writing this at noon. Ron Jones has just left, and there have only been two visitors so far, a very nice couple from Sioux City, IA who are traveling from Springfield, MO to as far as they can get on Route 66 in 10 days. I put out some candy in honor of Valentine's Day, but I suspect I'll be taking it home with me after the weekend if business doesn't pick up a bit.

Since it's bird-count weekend, I was going to try to photograph the little wrens that build nests IN the ceiling of our portico at Afton Station, but I guess they're too cold to come out today. I can't believe how they squeeze through the tiny crack where the molding joins the ceiling, carrying their nest-building materials with them. Here's a picture where you can see some straw and grass hanging out. Today, I can hear them chirping up there, but they're not coming out for photo ops.
Two more guests have just come in, a couple working their way back to Kansas City from Tulsa. They said they've managed to get their 10-year-old granddaughter interested in taking a Route 66 trip with them. Always good to hear!

On my way here this morning I stopped to take a picture of an old, abandoned roadhouse in Chelsea called Cowboys. Although apparently it hasn't been closed long enough for their signs to be considered actual "ghost signs", I think they're candidates for that in the future. Every time I drive past Cowboys, I can imagine the crazy good times that were probably once had there.
Just before closing, two guys from Tulsa came in with two small children. While the guys checked out the cars, the little ones were happy to hang with the toy gas pump we have there for kids, as well as the pressed penny machine. One of the guys, in his 20s I'd say, is a big Route 66 fan and knows a lot about every aspect of it. I get very excited when a younger person shows that kind of enthusiasm. Most of my guests are a bit on the old side, so it's great to know that there are a few of the younger generation ready to carry the Mother Road torch.

And finally, as I was turning off the "Open" signs, a car full of 4 family members rolled in --Mom, Dad, Grandma, Son. They were from Decatur, Illinois and had a few days to roam the area.

I'm home now.... a bit tired but quite pleased with another busy winter day.