The Talk

I gave a Route 66 talk to about 75 retired Tulsa teachers today.  I knew I was preaching to the choir when I asked,  "How many of you have driven on Route 66 anywhere, not including here in Tulsa?" and nearly every hand in the room was raised.  It was a great group, with good questions and a lot of interest.  I hope I've inspired some of them to get back out on the road. . . and especially to drive up to Afton!

Ron M. came along to help lug the books and other visuals I took with me, and to help out if my mouth went totally dry (a la Marco Rubio) or if I forgot what I wanted to say.  Fortunately, neither of these things happened, although I'm sure Ron could have added some pearls of wisdom if he'd spoken up.  He also took these pictures.  

I chatted with some interesting people after the lecture.  One lady is the wife of the City Attorney from Afton.  Another lady told me that her mother traveled all of Route 66 before it was paved!  Another talked about her mother's family growing up in Afton -- five sisters who are buried in the Afton graveyard.  Now I want to go out there and look for the Jackson family markers.  Another gentleman was instrumental in getting the Route 66 Village in W. Tulsa built.  That's the place with the trains and the full size replica of an oil derrick which I talked about here in June, 2011.   http://aftonstationblog-laurel.blogspot.com/2011/06/bit-off-track.html.

All in all, I felt quite good about the event, and now that its over, I can finally exhale. . .