Shameless Self-Promotion

Ron M. is a computer genius, but he doesn't like to admit to that. He is, at the very least, a lot more computer savvy than I am. Remember that article about Afton Station in the University of Kentucky magazine I told you about yesterday? He was able to add the PDF file to my website, so now anyone who might enjoy reading it can do so. Just go to http://tinyurl.com/pn99pt. Thanks, Ron.

I just spoke to David at Afton Station, and he said there were quite a few visitors there today. He also said that the roof is finally being painted! 'Tis another great day in Paradise!

Perfectly Imperfect

I have lots of time to think on my long drives to and from Afton. Today I was pondering perfection as it relates to Route 66.

I came here from 30 years of living in suburban Connecticut - just outside of New York City - where everything is expected to be perfect and, by some standards, is. Cities are busy and clean. Fashionable shops and magnificent homes line the streets. Small towns are "picturesque" and litter-free. The countryside looks like a calendar picture. Totally Martha Stewart territory. No wonder I was never comfortable there.

Route 66 is my idea of perfect imperfection. It's a bit like me. It's a little run down but manages to retain a modicum of charm. It's big. It's lived-in. It can be friendly. It remains optimistic even when maybe it shouldn't. From it, you can see miles into the past and miles into the future. For what some insist on calling a "dead road", it's the most alive place I've ever lived. It's my kind of place.

Today there was lots of bustling around at Afton Station to get ready for the big cruise that's coming for lunch on Saturday. Luis was there all day painting the roof (finally!) and mowing our pathetic grass. Marly was here earlier to work on the 2CV, then David came and swept him up and took him off to Sam's Club, where they bought everything needed for Saturday. They bought a new glass-fronted cooler that holds 150 cans of pop and bottles of water, 8 big tables that seat 8, and all the food for the luncheon. We stowed as much of the food as we could at the Station and David took some home with him. We set up the new cooler and filled it.

Meanwhile, I was entertaining a gaggle of visitors. There were 11 in all, including former New Englanders who now live in Miami OK, a couple from Topeka KS, three from Locust Grove GA, and several local types. My favorite guest this morning was Jacson Lima, a remarkably nice and interesting guy from Brazil. He's spending a few weeks working in the area, so he might be back for another visit this weekend. As he said in the guest book, he's fulfilling his "dream" by being on Route 66. Here he is:

Marly was at the Station yesterday and had 9 visitors, from France, the Netherlands, and California. I just wanted to put that on the record. So far, it's been a chaotic but exciting week.

Moi

Now that I've maintained this blog for several months and have attracted some new readers who don't really know who I am, I thought I'd tell everyone how I got started with my passion for Route 66 and my obsession with Route 66 postcards. (Also, I don't have much else to talk about today, I'm afraid.) :-)

The story of how I started collecting Route 66 memorabilia isn’t particularly unique, although sometimes I think I’ve taken my passion further than most people do, and for that reason it has shaped my life in many ways. When you ask a “roadie” how he or she got interested in Route 66, or the Lincoln Highway, or U.S. 1, or any of the old two-lane byways that crisscrossed our nation in its early days, 90% of the time the answer will be “because I have such fond memories of traveling those roads with my parents when I was a kid.” That’s my answer, too. I was blessed with a father who loved auto travel, and a mother who was patient and understanding of Dad’s and my passion for the road. We took numerous road trips, and I was often taken out of school for such adventures, since my parents always managed to convince my teachers of the “educational value” of our wanderings. My happiest childhood memories are of setting up headquarters in the back seat of our car (I was an only child) as we roamed the Southwest… the Deep South… the Canadian Rockies… the Blue Ridge…. the Grand Canyon… Central Florida… and points in between.

I started collecting roadside memorabilia before it was even considered memorabilia. I’d pick up the free postcards that were always offered at motel desks, I’d sweet-talk waitresses out of menus from diners, and I’d spend way more than I should have on pennants, plaques, ash trays, and other tacky souvenirs offered for sale at tourist traps. My collections alternately grew and shrunk depending on the housecleaning whims of my mother.

As the years passed and I became all grown up, I retained some of these early acquisitions and also added to them via antique shop and flea market purchases. Then, on a sailing trip to Maine with my husband in the early 1980s, I managed to acquire over 5000 roadside postcards in one bunch, and at a bargain price, too! While sorting this astounding find, I realized that a large number of the cards were from old Route 66, and they brought back such vivid memories of our yearly trips out to the Grand Canyon and California that I separated them out from the others and decided that, from that moment on, Route 66 would be my primary collecting interest. Now, years later, I have about 5000 Route 66 postcards along with an estimated 15,000 roadside postcards from other parts of North America. I specialize in motels, but also love cards that depict diners, tourist traps, wigwams, and Main Street scenes with old cars. On top of all of that, I also have another 5000+ postcards of other specific subjects such as cards showing smoking smokestacks, cards of 1950s Miami Beach motels, Cliff House in San Francisco, South of the Border in S. Carolina, Victorian erotica, cards showing chenille bedspreads, orange Danish modern chairs, and so on.

All of this led to us moving to Route 66 in Oklahoma, where we bought an old gas station in need of restoration in which to display my roadie memorabilia and his rather extensive vintage car collection. We're divorced now, but still own and run Afton Station together. It's all good!

Photo Op

The morning started out slowly at Afton Station, so it was a great time for cleaning, rearranging, and snapping a few photos. Ron M. and I spent some time doing a little of each. Herewith are some of the photos we took.

Isn't this a wonderful vintage gas station?
Surprise! Pull back and you'll see it's a model. My ex (back when he was my husband) had a lovely habit of giving me artist-created one-of-a-kind models each year. A Texas artist made this one and named it Laurel's Station. The detail is incredible. Unfortunately, the interior lights aren't working now. I have some better pictures of it somewhere, but I don't have time to look for them now.

Ron took this artistic shot of the mishmash of goodies that assault the senses when you enter Afton Station.

Lucky you! Now travel with me into the Afton Station restroom.. Here's a mural (a.k.a. world's largest toilet paper dispenser) I painted several years ago.

The famous Afton Station toilet paper, prized by travelers, each of whom is given one as a souvenir when they come to visit. I do this because my retro motto is "Cleanest Restrooms In Town". Since we're the ONLY public restrooms in town, the title is easy to retain. :-)

Ron went outside and snapped these shots when I was busy with guests. No self-respecting service station would be complete without a back yard full of rusty vehicles. We are no exception. Here are David's "parts cars", although I've never seen him take any parts from them.
Ok, enough of that. After a slow start, people started coming in the door of the Station around noon. By the end of the day, we had visited with 12 people. Two ladies (0ne from Oregon and one from Tulsa), in the area for their 30th college reunion, came to visit and stayed quite a while, playing with the pressed penny machine and looking at the cars and books. One of them won my heart because she's a postcard collector like me. She spent quite a bit of time going through my postcards for sale, and ended up buying 15 of them. Some bikers, pedaling their way from Arkansas to Ponca City OK, stopped very briefly because they had to get moving to meet their arrival goal. The older of the gentlemen was having painful knee problems so I invited them to come in and rest for a spell, but they were in a very big hurry. A local father and his two sons stopped by on their way home from a Boy Scout campout. Some folks from Michigan also visited. Toward the end of the day, we had a visit from my friend Emily, the photographer who took the shot of Michael I used in my last post. She drove up to say hi and chat a while. Her vest was covered with Obama buttons (yeah!), some of them very funny. Beekeepers for Obama (she's a beekeeper), Redheads for Obama (yeah, she is), Recyclers for Obama (she's that, too), Photographers for Obama (yep!), and quite a few more. My favorite was Hippies for Obama. I wish I'd bought one of those when I first saw them. It's too late now, I think.

And that was our Sunday!

Rumble Seat

I just got my 3000th blog hit! Well, isn't that special! :-)

I wasn't in Afton today, but I did get a very nice note from a visitor from last week. Bill Geibe was particularly interested in the vintage cars, and after he'd looked for a while he asked me, somewhat sheepishly, if it would be ok if he sat in the rumble seat of the 1934 12-cylinder. It's something he'd always wanted to do. I said he could, and that I'd take his picture with his camera. I did. He sent it to me, and here it is.

I've been wanting to put this on my blog. It's our Afton Station postcard.

Slow but steady

It wasn't a busy day at Afton Station today, but the visitors were well-spaced, so we had the chance to chat with everyone who wanted to chat. Both the Rons (Ron M. and Ron "Tattoo Man" J.) were there with me all day. Tattoo Man was sporting a brand new tattoo, the sign from Soulsby Station in Mt. Olive, IL and the Shell Oil Co. sign. Here it is on his swollen wrist.

Our first visitors were Steve and Denise Wyatt from North Carolina. Steve has been a self-described Route 66 "fanatic" for many years, and has an extensive collection of Route 66 memorabilia, books, guides, etc., at his home. In fact, he became engaged to Denise on the Chain of Rocks Bridge in 2000. That's pretty romantic, and it must have worked because she's now his wife and a Route 66 fan, too. They're on their way to California (via the Mother Road, of course) to attend a wedding.

Other visitors today hailed from southern California, Chicago, Joplin MO. and Catoosa OK.

I wouldn't even have had any interesting photos for today's entry (other than the one of Ron J's arm) if Ron M. hadn't stolen my camera and slipped out to take some pictures while I was busy with guests. I didn't know the photos existed until just moments ago when I was downloading from the camera. Here are two of them, a shot of my Route 66 flag (we had been trying to photograph that last week, but the wind never cooperated), and a very creative shot of my neon Route 66 sign taken through the window. Very nice, Ron, and thanks!