Happy Birthday, Brown Car!

Happy Birthday to my brown car. You're one year old today, and you've given me almost 41,000 smooth and trouble-free miles, mostly on Route 66. You got me through the nasty weather of last winter, and I expect you to do the same this year. I drive the hell out of you, and you don't seem to mind a bit. And much to my surprise, people don't think you're ugly!Another thing that can go either way in the ugliness department is an oil refinery. I drove up a hill early this morning to look out at the refinery area of Tulsa just before sunrise. I don't think it's ugly. The hill from which this photo is taken also overlooks the old Avery Bridge, and on this hill some day will stand the headquarters of the Route 66 Alliance. I like that it will overlook the refinery area, an important part of Tulsa's history.

A Dusty Tree and a Mystery Man

Not much to say about today at Afton Station. Ron M., Betty, Tattoo Man, and I were all there to greet guests, but not very many appeared on our doorstep. We almost outnumbered the guests, but we did have six: a man from Barnsdall, OK with his friend who was visiting from Oregon, a couple from Grove, OK doing a little weekend touring, and a woman and her young son from Afton who ended up here on a quest for a someone who could add some air to a deflating tire. It really looks like the long-distance Route 66 travelers, as well as most of the international travelers, are staying at home and waiting for spring before they get back to the Mother Road. That's ok. We'll be waiting for them.

Our little sad (and dusty, according to Ron M.) Christmas tree is now living atop the postcard rack. I'm also handing out candy canes to visitors. Otherwise, I'm afraid we haven't given much attention to holiday decor around here.
When my latest copy of Sexy Beast Magazine arrived yesterday, I thought I recognized the cover model. Geez, he looks SO familiar. . . .it's something about the face, I think. Hmmm..... but it seems that there's something missing. Help me! What could it be? Who is this mystery man?

Oh wait, I think I know! Scroll down to find the answer......

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May 1969, Camp Evans, Viet Nam. A young man who later would gain international fame as "The Route 66 Tattoo Man", pauses for a snapshot, his body not yet a canvas filled with body art. Yes, this is our dear Ron Jones, pre-Route 66 obsession. (Sorry, Tattoo. I couldn't resist making a magazine cover out of you. Tee hee!)

The Mysterious Floating Earrings

Ok, they're not floating above Route 66! But they are a pair of really cool earrings fashioned by Robin, who is creating quite a nice collection of jewelry made out of the pressed pennies from our machine. The "floating earring" image occurred when I was careless about posing them on the cover of the new "Route 66 Sightings" book by Jim Ross, Shellee Graham, and Jerry McClanahan. So hey, it becomes an advertisement for both the earrings AND the book! (Earrings are $5 at the Station.)
Today was actually much better than I had expected it would be at Afton Station. Cold rain fell for most of the day, and although the first hour afforded a bit of sunshine, it quickly turned to gray gloom for the rest of the day. Nevertheless, we had 7 visitors, all from Oklahoma. They came from Chelsea, Tahlequah, and Bernice. Below are the Sikorskis from Bernice. Kathi is active around Grand Lake, and her website, www.GrandLakeAreaInfo.com is a great clearinghouse for events and attractions in the area, both on and off Route 66. Besides being a great ambassador for the Lake area, she also has a sign and graphic design business. And if that's not enough, she and her husband also own and run Grand Country Lakeside RV Park. I'll be receiving more information about this later, but you can see their site at www.grandlakewest.com.

Speaking of signs, both Marly and Robin have been working on a big, almost-billboard-size sign, one of three that will eventually be erected on Route 66 both north and south of Afton Station. They're doing a great job, but work has been delayed while another project (the fixing of one of David's trailers) has usurped the sign-making space in the work room. However, by the time spring arrives, the signs should be ready to be unveiled. Meanwhile, here's a preview of the partially finished sign.

I'll be in Afton again tomorrow, barring any surprise snow storms. See you then!

A Sixty-Six Fix

Three days away from Route 66 was too much to bear, so after a pretty sunrise in the park and a good breakfast at Jimmy's Egg, I needed to feel the tires on a lumpy road. I didn't want to drive east again, however. Four or five days a week for most of the year is quite enough of that stretch. I needed something different. Having not much choice, I pointed the car to the west.

I stopped at the new little Route 66 park in Red Fork, just west of Tulsa, and took a couple of photos of those amazing, huge, majestic train cars parked there. I'm not sure if I've posted photos of the caboose and the tanker car, so here they are.
The restorers have done a fantastic job of bringing these behemoths of transportation back to life. We "car people" often forget the importance the railroad played in the development of Route 66.

The countryside never looks quite as ugly as it does at this time of year. The leaves are gone, the fields are brown, and even under a bright, sunny sky I get a slightly foreboding feeling. Driving west out of Tulsa at this time of year doesn't do much to dispel this feeling, and yet I tend to be drawn to this stretch of Route 66 in the winter as if by magnet. No offense to any who may disagree, but the miles between Red Fork and Sapulpa are some of the ugliest on Route 66. There's not much other than a few small manufacturing facilities, rundown houses and trailers, several abandoned gas stations, and crowned by the unfortunate hulk of what used to be Frankoma Pottery, until recently one of the premier stops along the Route. Try as hard as I can, I still can't picture this stretch in the heyday of Route 66. The train tracks run along one side of the road and the sounds of the Interstate can be heard from the south. It just seems so forsaken.

Sapulpa is a great little town, but today I drove through it quickly. I decided that it had been over 10 years since I drove the Tank Farm Road, a small alignment of old 66 between Kellyville and Bristow, so that's where I headed. This loop isn't the most exciting when it comes to scenery, but it contains a stretch of original concrete pavement and some of the old, rusted oil tanks for which it is named.

After bumping along on the Tank Farm Road, I turned back toward Tulsa, refreshed. It was still only 10 a.m. But aahhh, now I feel much better!

Visitors? What visitors?

Day 2 of the big shopping weekend has passed right by Afton Station. Today, I sold exactly $1 less than I sold yesterday, and that means $0. Don't get me wrong. I'm not there to sell things. But it's fun to wonder whether people are really out there shopping. According to the radio news I heard while driving home just now, there were plenty of folks out spending lots of money, just not at Afton Station.

The bigger disappointment is that of having so few visitors. Today, we greeted one man from Cape Canaveral, Florida, who had been visiting family in the area, and four little kids from Afton who were getting bored toward the end of their Thanksgiving vacation. Betty also stopped in for a while, and Ron M. was with me all day. We got a little cleaning done, did some reading, did some crossword puzzles, and Ron grabbed my camera and took a few photos.

Robin has made a number of the squashed penny bracelets in three sizes. She has also made a charm bracelet which isn't in this picture. I've been wearing my bracelet continuously and I love it.

Small Business Saturday in Afton: The Results

Well, apparently the news of Small Business Saturday didn't make it to Afton, OK. On this day, I sold exactly one dollar's worth of merchandise, a postcard. Oh well, nice try. LOL! The weather was ghastly today -- cold, pouring rain most of the day, and a dark sky that made me feel like it was almost bedtime all day. I really can't blame folks for not taking to the road for a pleasant jaunt on a day like this.

Nevertheless, we did have three intrepid couples who chose today to do some Route 66ing. They were from Neosho MO, Oklahoma City OK, and Aiken IL. All of them seemed to be mainly unaffected by the weather and enjoying their time on the Mother Road. Here are the folks from Oklahoma City.We also had most of our "regulars" drop in and stay a while, so we had time to socialize with Ron M., Marly, Betty, Phil, Robin, and Michael Scruggs.

There is a group promoting the painting of murals on the sides of buildings along Route 66 across all of Oklahoma. I took a couple of photos of a very visible wall of a building in Afton which we think would be a perfect spot for a colorful mural. The bare rock wall faces Route 66 and it's unlikely that anything will be built in the vacant lot in front of it. Since this is just the beginning of an idea, however, we're not sure that the town of Afton could ever come up with the needed funds to support such an endeavor. Afton could sure use a facelift, though!

Small Business Saturday

On the way to dialysis this morning at 5 a.m. I felt compelled to drive past a part of town that includes a number of big chain stores because I'm always intrigued by the concept of Black Friday. I took the above photo outside of Sears. Later, as I sat in the dialysis chair and the nurse was inserting, rather painfully, two needles into my sensitive arm, what crossed my mind was that I'd rather endure those needles than stand in line outside a big store at 5 a.m. But that's just me. I'm not a shopper, I'm not a line stander, and I can think of better things to compete for than the latest half price gadget.

On the other hand, tomorrow is Small Business Saturday, and I'm assuming I'll arrive at Afton Station to find a long line of folks getting ready to break down the door in order to be first to get to my key chains, sweatshirts, Route 66 guidebooks, and postcards.

Hah! That'll be the day!

My point, if you haven't figured it out yet, is that I fully and enthusiastically support the concept of Small Business Saturday. How happy I'd be to see lines forming outside of any mom 'n pop business tomorrow or any day. I know it won't happen, but I do encourage all of you to think about patronizing just one small local store this weekend.

I take it back, at least a little of it. . .

I guess I should apologize, partially, for my unkind "harrumph" yesterday when it came to coverage of the monument ceremony by our Afton hometown newspaper. This week's edition has one more small picture, but at least this time there is one member of the Route 66 community in it -- Marilyn Emde, Executive Director of the OK Route 66 Association. The other three in the photo are Afton citizens who actually had nothing whatsoever to do with the monument. I think this is what happens when a photographer is sent by a newspaper to cover an event without properly being told who are the important elements. Maybe it's my fault for not taking the time to point out that the president and vice president of the Association were also in attendance, as well as a couple of people such as Marly who was responsible for transporting the monument 350 miles and maintaining the site. Oh well, at least folks in town know the dedication actually took place. Now, back to being thankful. . .

Early Rising

There are many advantages to being an early riser. For one thing, there are the sunrises. Those who read my blog regularly know of my affinity for a great dawn. But there are other advantages as well. This morning, as I was fussing in the kitchen at 4 a.m., I was also watching a rerun of one of last week's Jay Leno shows, and thus was introduced to Vince Gill's new hit song, "That Old Lucky Diamond Motel". Wow, what a truly great Route 66 song. Check it out at http://tinyurl.com/7j9durn.

Another advantage of jumping out of bed before sunrise is that on occasion you will find a friend who is also awake and alert at an early hour. This morning I got a very early email from Rick Thompson, who was also up and cooking. Attached to the email were a couple of great photos. Here's one that Rick took of the Waldmire mural that hangs in Afton Station. I think it's the first close-up of the map all in one shot. Very nice!

He also sent this absolutely fantastic black-and-white shot he inherited from his uncle. It was taken somewhere on Route 66 in eastern OK or possibly western MO in the '50s, when apparently people shot out electrical insulators as some kind of sport. What a hoot!

Now, back to the kitchen for more Thanksgiving preparations. Once again, I hope everyone is enjoying wonderful food among dear friends and family.

Thanksgiving Prep

I drove up to Grove today to claim my annual fried turkey from David. This arrangement has been happening ever since he ended up with the turkey frying equipment after our divorce. Good thing we're friends, because he fries a mean turkey! This year, Ron M. drove up with me and on the way home we stopped at Afton Station to check on things. It happened that Marley was there too, and let me know that we've had a pretty good number of visitors on the days when I've been absent while he's been there working on cars, etc. This is great news.

Marly also brought us a copy of the Grove newspaper from the week prior to the monument dedication which I'd never seen before . Here's a rather poor photo of the excellent page which is almost entirely devoted to promoting the dedication. It's a whole lot better than the tiny 2" by 3" mislabeled photo on the back page of the Afton newspaper! Harrumph!
The other day on the way home from Afton, Ron M. and I took a little side trip to explore a little-known Route 66 alignment near Vinita. Phil told us that he was told by the owners of the property (just behind the pecan place north of the city) that it was a real alignment at one time. I want to find out more about this. If anyone knows anything about the validity of this alignment, please let me know. (Yoo hoo.... Jim R. or Jerry M., are you there?)
I was cruising around Tulsa on 11th St. (Route 66) the other day and drove into the parking lot of the restored Hotel Campbell. I was amazed by the plainness of the building and its main entrance. The "Ramada Inn" look of the exterior belies the exquisite rooms and overall elegance of the property. I hope that people can see past the outside and pay this exciting restoration an overnight visit!
Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and I guess I'm ready. After returning from Grove with the turkey, I put finishing touches on a few other dishes. It will just be four of us this year, so no need to overdo it. A casual Thanksgiving can be relaxing and fun. I give thanks for all of you, and hope your holiday is full of warmth, friends, and family.

Sunday in Tulsa

So this is what Tulsa looks like on Sunday! It's been so long since I've been home on Sunday that it just feels weird. Because of a one-time change in my dialysis schedule, I had to go there this morning, and now I'm home and making a big pot of turkey soup. That may sound odd just a few days before Thanksgiving, but in order to make gravy for the big day, I had to roast a bunch of turkey legs and thighs and render the juice. Now, I have a fridge full of turkey meat! Meanwhile, Robin is holding the reins at Afton Station today. I hope she has lots of visitors!

Today is also the day of the running of the Route 66 Marathon here in Tulsa. There are a lot of streets blocked off, so it took some creativity to traverse the one mile from the hospital to my house. In 2008, our Studebaker was chosen to lead off the runners at the start, and that was really fun. Sadly, we haven't been asked back, but the Marathon has become very much larger over the years. Although I don't see much connection to Route 66 other than the name, I guess it's a good way to spread the word that Route 66 goes through Tulsa. Sometimes it's the locals who are less likely than visitors to recognize the importance of the Mother Road's presence in a city.

Here's one of the photos sent to me by Rick Thompson. It shows my ex, David, and his son Patrick checking out the Ribbon Road monument last weekend.