"Lost" Weekend

It's hard to believe that the full moon was two nights ago. I could swear it was right now, judging by the number of lost people who wandered into Afton Station today. There were three in a row, at one point. One poor lady simply walked through the door, sighed, and uttered "Where am I?" The other two were equally confused. This really hasn't happened before. They were all trying to find different locations. For a while, Ron M. and I were beginning to think we were on Candid Camera! Among the 39 visitors (apart from those three who just wanted to get directions and weren't interested in seeing the museum), there were several others who were confused about their location as well. What's going on?

Yes, I did say we had 39 visitors today. And allow me to add that it was one of the more interesting and varied groups we've ever had. Unfortunately, there wasn't much time to spend with any one person, but we did get to make the acquaintance of some great folks and my voice didn't completely crap out by the end of the day.... amazingly enough.

We only greeted one foreign couple this afternoon, coming from Australia and embarking on their Route 66 tour with great enthusiasm. Here they are, on the right. The other couple in the picture was equally enthusiastic, although from just down the road in Tulsa. It was fun to see them chatting and taking pictures of one another as they walked out of the Station together. We're just doing our part for international relations!

Another special couple were Alla and Joe, from Palentine, IL. I just took a liking to them because of their enthusiasm for Route 66 and their determination to do it right.

It was also a good day for sales. I opened the cash box more today than ever before, I think. Other than those mentioned above, visitors came from Jenks OK, Munster IN, Muskogee OK, Fremont OH, Blanchard OK, Owensboro KY, Villa Rica GA, Fort Worth TX, Locust Grove OK, Oletha KS, Oklahoma City OK, and Springfield MO.

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A little news about yesterday: As you know, I wasn't at the Station on Friday. Marly came around noon, just to do some work on the cars, but he barely had time, as he had an onslaught of visitors. In just a couple of hours, he had visits from 14 people from France, 5 travelers from Spain, 4 from Minnesota, and one from Kentucky. Wow! I am so grateful to Marly for treating the visitors so well and taking time from his own work to do so. He sold a lot, too. In fact, tonight I need to do some reordering. I'm running out of merchandise!

The Ritz Theater

Betty and I have been looking for an image showing the Ritz Theater in Afton for a long time. Last week, a friend of Betty's (and now a friend of mine), Perry Knight, acquired this one from a former Afton resident. It's from a postcard from the 1950s, and I also have the companion postcard, which I've shown here before. I can't stop looking at both images and imagining Afton in the days when it was busy and vital. Almost none of the buildings in the photo are still standing, the traffic light at the corner of 1st St. (Route 66) and Main St. is long gone, and I'm sure it's been decades since that many cars lined the streets. Unfortunately, this image has been over-copied, so it's not terribly clear, but you can see the Ritz Theater on the left.This is from my postcard collection, and it's a first generation copy, thus clearer. It shows the other angle of the intersection.

As usual on Friday, I'm not at Afton Station today. Yesterday I snapped a picture of one of my vintage Route 66 maps, just to test the portrait feature on my camera. It's not too bad. I love this map.

Melancholia

I'm not intrinsically a sad person, but occasionally I have brief spells of sadness. They rarely last more than a few hours, but this morning I had one. Why the sadness? It started with Rod Stewart singing "Forever Young" on the radio while I was on the way to Afton. That song always gets to me, and more so now that I'm older. Most people like music on their car radios. I don't. I don't even like music very much anywhere. "Normal" people like it because it sets moods, which is exactly the reason I don't care for it. I'm moody enough without it.

My sadness continued during the ride, thinking about things. My dad would have been 90 years old today if he were still alive. My ex turns 65 today. For some reason, that saddens me. My friend's wife was diagnosed with cancer. Obviously, that saddens me, too.

There are people in the world who make me sad, too. Currently, the incredibly ignorant folks known as "birthers" just refuse to get out of my mind. I feel sad for people whose lives are so narrow that they have nothing better to do than to try to disprove proven facts. How about using your time more creatively, people? Restore an old building. Take your family on a vacation. Volunteer somewhere. Stop being jerks.

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Just in the nick of time, my first visitor to the Station got me out of my funk. (I told you they never lasts very long.) He was Ron Jones, but not our Ron "Tattoo Man" Jones. This Ron Jones was from Vinita, but he grew up in Afton in the '40s and '50s. We had a wonderful chat, in which he told me a few interesting Afton stories. One story took place in the '50s, when a guy with a gun stood on the balcony across the street (see picture) and, for a very long time, waved the gun around threatening to kill somebody. He never did, but Mr. Jones said it kept the whole town occupied for many hours.

My next visitors were from Southhampton, Great Britain, a young couple on an 8-week odyssey through the U.S. which is also including New Orleans and New York City along with Route 66. Later guests came from Gardner, KS and more folks from Vinita, OK. Neighbor Mike stopped by to tell me he's sold his house and plans to leave town. It wasn't a busy day.

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Joplin, Missouri is the closest "big city" to Afton, just about 42 miles via Route 66. Yesterday Betty brought me an incredibly interesting article from the Joplin newspaper about Joplin's criminal history. Bonnie and Clyde (and the rest of the Barrow gang), the Jesse James gang, "Machine Gun" Kelly and his crew, and the notorious Ma Barker and her four sons all hung out in Joplin at one time or another in the '30s. Bonnie and Clyde gunned down two lawmen at this Joplin apartment, which in now on the National Register of Historic Places. Joplin was known to be a "safe" place for the gangs, as there were several people in the town who harbored them. This is so interesting! When I lived up in Grove, Joplin was my go-to place for shopping, but I never knew about this. Now, I must take a trip up there and check out this significant landmark of criminal history.

Bonnie and Clyde apartment in Joplin, MO

Photo du jour:

The once-neon lit Elms Motel sign in Claremore. I like it.

Now I suppose I'll be plagued by the paparazzi

I drove up to Afton today for the "Discover Oklahoma" TV interview, and Ron M. went with me. It was fairly painless, considering how much I hate to see my face on TV. Ron Stahl, the host of the show was a very professional interviewer and managed to make me feel comfortable in front of the camera. He's also a very nice man. David was there and he was interviewed, too. Betty and her niece also dropped by to observe the action. Tattoo Man had come to the Station earlier, but had to leave before I got there and before the TV guys came. While Tattoo was there, he had 5 visitors -- from Lawton OK, Toledo IA, and Branson MO.

Although we were only there for a bit over an hour, we had one exciting family group. Why? They were from China! I haven't had any visitors from China this year. This family of four, although American, have lived in China for 18 years. They're here to visit relatives and decided to explore Route 66.

Here are a few pictures from the TV shoot:
Ron Stahl pre-interviewing me
Recording the sound of the penny pressing machine for background

"Discover Oklahoma" has an interesting car.

Boredom Avoidance

We are taught that boredom is the sign of a non-creative mind. This being said, I confess to feeling a slight sense of boredom as I drove the 80 miles to Afton this morning. Since I pass the same scenery 8 times a week, I've partially forgiven myself for this lapse, although today my "non-creative" mind went directly to work looking for anything that would assuage the boredom and set me on the right path again. [Hmm....perhaps boredom is a means to an end rather than the end itself. I'll give that some thought.]

Anyway, I amused myself today by jotting down a number of activities that would cut the boredom on my trip to Afton in the future, some more fanciful than others.

---- Stopping to pick wildflowers by the side of the road

---- Riding a horse to Afton (I wish!)

---- Taking a short drive on a different side road each day (until I run out of bigger roads and get shot by an irate rancher upon whose property I've trespassed. I imagine that getting plugged by a shotgun would cure my boredom!)

---- Stopping to read the labels on the whiskey bottles in the ditches. (Today's was Jim Beam.)

---- Counting church buses (if I can count that high!)

----Thinking up more boredom-reducing fantasies.
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Once at Afton Station, it didn't take long for the boredom to dissipate. First visitors were a nice couple from Elmhurst, IL who stayed a while while we chatted about their trip, old cars (theyhave a '30 Model A) and their grandchildren. Another Chicago suburban couple followed closely on their heels.

I got a call from Ron Stahl at the TV show "Discover Oklahoma", asking if they could come to film at Afton Station tomorrow, so I'll have to rush there from dialysis. It should be a crazy day, but since the TV show is very popular all over the state, I wouldn't think of missing this chance to be featured on it. Yippee! Further details tomorrow...

Betty came and stayed for a while. Marly arrived to begin the arduous task of cutting the grass that hasn't been cut in two weeks -- in 100+ temperatures! David got home from his trip to the Black Hills, with news of progress on the building we plan to put behind the Station so we can display more cars.

More visitors came from Reynoldsburg OH, Shawnee KS, and Joplin MO.

Remember the Afton water tower I mentioned the other day? The CE from the water inspection company came in to see the cars and I grilled him for more than a half hour about what's going on at the tower. Seems it's being completely cleaned, inside and out, and painted. He said that the metal "guy wires" that are strung from the top of the tower to the ground are the structure for a TEPE (Temporary Environmental Protection Enclosure). When they're ready to paint, they'll completely enshroud the tower with a material to keep paint dust, etc. off the town. I learned lots more, but won't bore you with all of that.

Now, some random photos I took this morning....

A couple of nice vintage tractors being sold at the side of the road in Claremore.

A nice old stone building in Vinita.

This old building in Vinita was not so lucky. It burned down this week.

I photographed my breakfast again. What's wrong with me? Same breakfast, different restaurant. :-)

The Bird

9:15 a.m. -- I've got a little problem this morning. Actually, right now it feels like a BIG problem although not so much for me as for the poor little bird who's now trapped inside Afton Station. When I opened the door this morning, he flew in with me - just a tiny little wren. Cute, if we weren't bent on terrorizing one another. He's on the windowsill in front of my desk, so I've moved my desk back, partly so as not to frighten him, and partly so that maybe he'll stop frightening me. To make matters worse for little Birdie, his friend is on the outside windowsill taunting him. I have no idea what I'm going to do about this situation other than hope that my next visitor is either an avian psychologist or a big guy who's not afraid of a 3-inch tall bird, as I am (Ok, I admit it!) By the way, as I write this, the bird has calmed down and stopped trying frantically to escape. Now we're just staring each other down. It's only 9:15 a.m.. This should be an interesting day.
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9:45 -- Somebody must be watching over birds and those who fear them. At 9:30, in walked the exact man I was hoping would show up. When I told him my dilemma, with absolutely no hesitation he walked to the sill, cupped Birdie in his hands, and marched him to the door and freedom. Crisis averted, with no lingering effects other than my feeling of being a huge wimp. The man and his lovely wife were headed for the Grand Canyon, so I gave them a guide book and wished them well.

The Bird Man of Afton Station and his wife

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10:00 a.m. -- The next visitors were a three-generation family of 10 from Ottawa, KS. , complete with a 6-month-old baby and a very very cute 2-year-old girl who was NOT happy to leave after spending some time with our gas station toy. I think I'm already tired.

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The rest of the day: General chaos! I've never had so many visitors when I've been there by myself. Betty dropped in for a while, which is always a joy and very helpful, but for the most part of the day I was alone. I had a total of 41 visitors, most toward the end of the day. Along with those mentioned before from W. Chicago IL and Ottawa KS, I also just about lost my voice chatting with folks from Miami OK, Joplin MO, Ft. Smith AR, Eunice NM, Pryor OK, Vinita OK, Afton OK, Chambersburg PA, Spartanburg SC, Thorp WI, Skiatook OK, Crawfordsville IA, Bartlesville OK, and Brussels, Belgium. I probably should apologize to any who felt they got short shrift, as despite trying to be all things to all people, I found it hard to meet, greet, and talk to everyone equally. They were all such interesting folks, too! Quite a few motorcyclists visited, and everyone was in a great mood on this beautiful, cool-ish day.

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Here's one of the finished shields. Isn't it gorgeous?

Buried cars a la Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, seem to be popping up here and there. This one is on Route 66 near Chelsea. I've seen a few off Route 66, too. Interesting... I guess.

Marking our territory

I think I'll go backwards today, since I want to put the most exciting part of the day up front. So, I'll talk about tomorrow and this morning later. Got that?

My excitement arises because of the new additions to Afton Station. Last night, I picked up the Oklahoma Route 66 Association's street stencil. This morning, wonderful Ron M. used it to paint two stencils the pavement under the portico in front of the Station, while lazy me stood by and "supervised". Thank you, Ron!
We plan to do a few more stencils on the apron in front of the Packard side of the Station and possibly on a window or two, but we ran out of paint. Of course, we used striping paint, since cars will be running over the images. After this photo was taken, Ron painted out the "stencil" lines. They look GREAT!
Early this morning on the way to Afton, we spied the elderly running man (see Thursday's post) hoofing it all alone just east of Chelsea. I turned the car around and we pulled over to talk to him. He said he is faring well, and he's doing his run to inspire other senior citizens to never give up, follow their dreams, and get out and exercise! Well, I'm pretty good with the first two. To refresh your memory, he's 71 years old, and he's running all of Route 66.
From day to day, I just never know what to expect at Afton Station. After a week of entertaining many families with small children, today's visitor log consisted of almost all senior citizens. There was one man with two teen-agers, but otherwise most folks hovered in the 60 to 85 range, and most were men, a high percentage being local. We greeted folks from Marshall MO, Anderson MO, Hull IL, Galena KS, Bullhead City AZ, Jenning CA, Pittsburgh KS, and folks from Afton, Blanchard, Wann, Miami, Pryor, and Quapaw OK. Lots of car talk today, possibly because many of our visitors were headed to a big car show in Vinita. Tattoo Man and Betty were also both in attendance.

The Afton water tower is now shrouded in guy wires. We're not entirely sure what they're all for, but Ron and I drove over there on our way out of town, and it appears that they'll be used to hoist platforms up the tower, probably for ease in painting it. But an Afton person who visited today said she heard that the tower was infested with worms and bugs (shudder!) so perhaps there'll be a purging, too. (We don't drink the water in Afton anyway, since I've received official notification that it's not entirely safe.) Talk about a town with infrastructure problems!
Last night I went to dinner in Tulsa at El Rancho Grande with some friends, a trip inspired by the restoration of their neon sign. It's almost finished, and looking good. It was still daylight when we left the restaurant, so I can't show you the full effect of the neon yet.Here's our little group: Brad (or half of him...oops!), Ron, LaSandra, Patty, and Rick. Good food, good friends, good conversation!

Finally.... Once, some time ago when I first started this blog, I thought to myself that if I ever got really desperate for something to photograph, I'd snap a picture of my breakfast. "Ha ha", I laughed to myself.

Today, I photographed my breakfast.