A Checker, Some Traffic, and Rick

No, that's not the line of cars and trucks waiting to turn into Afton Station. I wish it was! Instead, it's the result of a flagman directing one-lane traffic through Afton all day while Route 66 is being resurfaced. It was kind of a mess, and it certainly didn't help travelers who wanted to visit Afton Station. We felt sorry for the flagman, who had been there for many hours and told us he sometimes works 15 hours a day. We realize he's lucky to have a job in this economy, and yet with all these 100+ degree days lately, it can't be fun. He came in to use the bathroom and we gave him a very welcome bottle of cold water.

It was an odd day at Afton Station. Ron M. and Tattoo Man were both with me today. We had early visitors from Ponca City OK, Jefferson City TN, and Boaz AL. In the late morning, a couple from Springfield, IL dropped in on their way to the Checker Car Club convention in Los Angeles. We appreciated their rig -- a very cool vintage Checker pulling a teeny tiny teardrop trailer which, they said, is incredibly comfy for sleeping. This couple was very well-versed on Route 66 and very enthusiastic tourists.
Some folks from the Mental Health Clinic behind Afton Station came in looking for a patient who had wandered away. There were about 5 very concerned people scouring every nook and cranny of the town before they found the guy about an hour later. Just a little excitement for sleepy Afton.

A very agitated local friend came in, upset because he couldn't get the $100 worth of minutes he'd just bought to show up on his cell phone. It took both Ron and me, working with the woman at the phone help center, to make it happen. It was ridiculously complicated and we agreed that our neighbor had every reason to be upset. Add to that the fact that his roommate died last week, the daughter of his best friend was killed in a car accident, and he'd just had his car repossessed. Sometimes I feel so lucky comparing my life to what hell others are going through.

A very charming young couple from Hanover, Germany visited in the afternoon. Then one of my Facebook Friend arrived -- Rick Zimmer from Portland, OR who is doing all of Route 66 on his Harley. Oh my, what a wonderful guy! He's done a lot of study for this trip, and his enthusiasm is contageous. Just one more bit of proof that Route 66 people are THE BEST! Wish he could have stayed longer, but we had a good 90 minutes of visiting with him, then he headed for the Afton Route 66 Motel down near Buffalo Ranch to spend the night. I'm so glad to have made the acquaintance of this charming gentleman.
And then we drove home......

Chronic Randomness

Ok, it's Wednesday, so no Afton Station. Seems like a good time to clean out my picture file. None of these are very good, but they're all on Route 66, so have a look if you wish.

I drove through Red Fork recently. Red Fork is a neighborhood that's strung along Route 66 in West Tulsa. It's the site of the first oil well in Tulsa County, and has continued that heritage by being home to some of the big oil refineries now. It's both industrial and residential. There's not much left to remind one that it was once an alignment of old Route 66, and it isn't easy to take pictures there because there's quite a bit of traffic, so forgive the quality (or non-quality) of the pictures. I didn't feel like getting out of the car, so I just snapped through the windows.

"Downtown" Red Fork

Ollie's Station Restaurant -- a Red Fork Route 66 icon. Good food and tons of electric trains and railroad memorabilia to amuse the kids.

Old Town Hatters. I know nothing about this defunct business but it's intrigued me for years.

This says "Midway Trailer Court". Nothing left on the site, and barely anything left of the sign.

This is what we call "Dot's Box" in Afton. It's a box of garbage that's been sitting in the street directly across from Afton Station for.... ta da!.... 7 weeks! Yes, we should do a good deed and clean it up, but it's become a symbol for what doesn't happen in Afton (like town maintenance!) and we've decided to see how long it stays there. We call it Dot's Box because it sits in front of a building owned by Dot. Dot's Box

This is an example of an enameled porcelain faced filling station from the '40s or '50s. It's in Vinita. I'm just sorry that there are always so many cars around it. Makes for an unsatisfying picture.

Vinita gas station

Enough bad pictures for one day? I think so!

Mixed Bag

There was certainly no common denominator ruling today's pace at Afton Station or the guests who came to visit. It wasn't necessarily a busy day, but there was plenty to keep me well occupied. On the way to Afton this morning at slightly prior to the crack of dawn, I decided to take a couple of pictures of motels at night for a new friend from Australia who shares an interest in motels, particularly when photographed in the dark. There aren't that many to choose from on my regular route, but here are two. These are for you, John.

Still early after the aforementioned photo shoot and a quick breakfast at Clanton's, I decided to drive right past Afton Station and take a short ride on the Miami segment of the 9-foot alignment. I haven't been there for a while, and Betty had told me about an intriguing cemetery on that stretch that I'd never noticed before. Well, I couldn't find it (probably didn't drive far enough), but I took a quick picture of one part of the road that particularly imparts a sense of primitive isolation. Always remember... this was once the MAIN STREET ACROSS AMERICA, all 9 feet of it!
I had barely unlocked the door of Afton Station and turned on the air conditioner in defense against the predicted 100 - 105 temperatures, when I had my first visitor. Jim is a nice guy from Grove, OK who's a recent transplant from the East Coast (suburb of NYC) like me, so we had quite a lengthy discussion comparing restaurants of Eastern Oklahoma with restaurants of NYC. I guess it wasn't really a fair comparison, but Jim did tell me about a great place he's discovered just across the border into Missouri. I must try it some day.

A motorcycle rider from Sacramento, CA stopped by on his way back to California after crossing the country west-to-east on Rt. 50 and now cruising Rt. 66 on his way home. That's a long trip on a bike for sure! A family from Oklahoma City also visited, accompanied by their grandparents from Albuquerque, NM. Other visitors included a man from Chanute, KS and two very hot and tired motorcyclists from Vancouver Island, Canada where they're simply not used to this scalding heat.

Betty visited with me for several hours in the afternoon. She also brought me some of that amazing Amish butter. Thank you SO much, Betty!

At the end of the day I had a visit from Jordan Nelson, a reporter from Public Radio Station KOSU in Stillwater, OK. He's doing documentary spot about the people of Route 66 and had called in advance to ask if he could interview me. He's a very nice man who is both a student and an employee of the station, and I really liked his interview style. I didn't feel as nervous as I usually do during interviews, but perhaps that's because there was no camera involved. After all, I've always felt that I have a face that's made for radio! Here's Jordan.

Waaaaay off topic!

Forgive me in advance. Please. You know I rarely stray from talking about Afton Station, Route 66, or Tulsa on this blog. But every now and then something comes along that's just too good not to pass on. From the moment I saw this on Facebook this morning, I knew I had to share it, but since I still can't figure out how to imbed YouTube videos on my blog (Help!), I'll just link it up here.

It's been hanging around YouTube for a while, I guess, because it has over 300,000 hits, but it's new to me, so maybe it will be new to you, too. I can't stop laughing. It's the perfect combination of archaic and clueless. Am I completely crazy, or does anyone else think it's great? Maybe it's a generational thing.....

YouTube - "Toking" with Lawrence Welk

As I said before..... sorry!

Hot weather and hot girls

The parade of foreign visitors continued today at Afton Station. On this uncomfortably hot day, we were as cool as cucumbers indoors with the air conditioner humming. Ron M. drove up with me, and Tattoo Man drove over in his '56 Chevy. Our first visitors, who arrived soon after we got there, were from Denmark. We were also visited by someone from Wichita, KS who is planning the route for a car cruise in October of '10 ! You heard me right....'10 ! Now that's what I call advance planning! But I put it in my book, and barring any unforseen circumstances, I'll be happy to host the group of about 50 cars.

Ron M. confirmed his title as "Laurel's Favorite Person" by mopping the entire floor, then going out in the 100+ heat and washing the windows, the portico, and the gas pumps. Oh, let me add that yesterday he was the one who purchased the mop and bucket for me! He's such a good friend.

Later, we were graced by the presence of three extremely cute young women from France, one from Paris, one from Nantes, and one from Bordeaux. They're college friends who are touring all of the Mother Road (westbound), so young single men along Route 66 should keep a lookout! Not only were they attractive, but they were cheerful and lots of fun. (Prediction: They'll win the title of "Most Hit On" on Route 66 for this decade. LOL!)

We especially liked the cowboy boot look!

Another special guest today was Larry Kinsey from Kansas, completing his 31-day tour of the western states. He's a good Route 66 friend who stopped in last month at the beginning of his trip, and came today to deliver a report. He stayed a while and told us about all his enviable visits to national parks and other wilderness areas. Nice! Larry collects Indian flutes, showed us several he bought on this trip, and even played a little bit for us. I love that sound!

Later in the day we were visited by folks from Tulsa. The patriarch of this family group told me about a Packard dealership that used to be on Boulder Ave. I'd been wondering where the Tulsa Packard dealership was located, so this was an interesting piece of information. He also told me that his father had started a chain of restaurants in Tulsa in 1936 called White Knight Nickel Sandwich Shops.... and yes, the sandwiches were all really a nickel!

We finished the day with visits from a group from Ketchum, OK, then several very hot and uncomfortable motorcycle riders from Welch, OK who were eternally grateful for a few moments in our air conditioning! So much for another weekend in steamy Afton, Oklahoma

Saturday in Paradise (?)

I wondered how the old Admiral Twin Drive-In would look at dawn, so I took the alternate Admiral Place alignment of Route 66 out of Tulsa this morning. The drive-in is still operating and showing first run movies on both of the back-to-back screens (on the big structure you see to the left). It's still popular, thank goodness, because at the rate that other U.S. drive-ins are dying out, it's great to know that Tulsa still has one , alive and kicking, on Route 66. The Route 66 Drive-In in Carthage, MO is also doing well. In fact, today some visitors to Afton Station told me that they couldn't get in last night because the line to enter was too long. Great news!
Since I arrived at Afton Station about 45 minutes early this morning, I had time to go through my Guest Book and do something I always enjoy -- counting up the states and countries represented by those who have come to visit. This morning, I did the Guest Book from Jan. 1 to June 30th of this year -- just the first six months. Guests visited from 41 states and 16 countries!!! Not bad for half a year, when a good bit of that time was in the dead of winter! I won't list the states represented. I'll just say this: If you're from the states of Delaware, Utah, Montana, Maine, N. Hampshire, Rhode Island, or Nevada, you'd better get yourselves over to Afton Station so that by the end of the year I'll have a full 50 represented! (The kid from Hawaii came after June 30, so I can't count him this time).

Foreign visitors have come from Belgium, Canada, France, Norway, Germany, England, Netherlands, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Japan, Australia, Switzerland, Zimbabwe, India, and New Zealand. It's a regular United Nations!

Now, for today..... 23 travelers dropped in. I was particularly fond of this guy before even talking to him, since I'm a huge NY Yankees fan. He and his stepson are doing a full Route 66 trip. Good for them.... and GO YANKEES! (Their trip blog is at http://www.tripdown66.blogspot.com/).

Sean and Mason from New York

Other visitors were from Tulsa, Chelsea, Edmond, Enid, and Glenpool OK, Walnut Grove MO, and Pamplona, Spain. I discussed the Running of the Bulls with one of the Spanish guys, since it's happening in their town as we speak. You probably already know that a young man was killed by one of the bulls this year, the first time since 1995. The young visitor to Afton Station assured me that, being of sound mind, he would never even consider entering into that foolishness. Good for him!

I was alone today at Afton Station, but it worked out just fine because the visitors came in sequentially instead of all at once. I was able to visit with most of them for enough time to hear their trip stories, give advice if they needed it, and still take a breather every now and then.

See you tomorrow!

An Arrow and a Jackalope

Today, Ron and I took a little jaunt to a couple of places in Tulsa I've been wanting to explore. They're not actually on Route 66, but they ARE in Tulsa, and since Tulsa is on Route 66, I'm sure I'll be forgiven for talking about them here. Won't I?

The other day the Tulsa World had a story about a project undertaken by the Reservoir Hill Neighborhood Association that really caught my attention. Reservoir Hill is .... well... a hill with a (former) reservoir on the top! It's in North Tulsa and is quite an interesting location, a once-elegant neighborhood that took a slide downward and is now seeing the beginnings of an upswing. Homes on Reservoir Hill have some of the best views in the whole city, and many of the houses are quite impressive, but I've always felt a sort of detachment from the rest of the city, which is hard to explain, when I'm there. Recently, the Reservoir Hill Neighborhood Assoc. took on the project of recreating a giant arrow and the word TULSA on the hill next to the reservoir.

The original sign was created in 1927 to greet aviator Charles Lindbergh when he came to Tulsa (after his famed nonstop Atlantic crossing) as part of a national tour and to promote the Tulsa State Fair. The huge white arrow pointed to what was then the city's largest private airstrip, where Lindbergh planned to land. When the citizens of Reservoir Hill decided to recreate the sign, they needed 140 tons of white crushed marble, and they also chose to reorient the arrow so that it now points toward the current Tulsa International Airport. Six residents of Reservoir Hill did all the labor. Although the sign is to be dedicated on July 18th, we wanted to see it today.

The road to the former reservoir is closed off, so we couldn't get above the sign to get a good picture, but at least this proves we were there, and you can see the general size of the huge arrow.

These are the two pictures from the Tulsa World -- before and after. As you can see, the sign had to be moved out of the actual reservoir area to the hill beside it.

The arrow in 1927 (the year after Route 66 was commissioned).

The arrow today.

____________________________

Our second stop was at a new little neighborhood grocery market which I'd recently heard about. You can have your WalMarts and Sam's Clubs. There's almost nothing I love more than local entrepreneurship. This little grocery the Blue Jackalope, was opened several months ago by a very cool guy named Scott, and it has everything you'd expect from a corner store, and then some. Shelves hold a supply of canned goods, but basically just one brand of each thing, thus cutting down the selection time. Breads are fresh and many are organic. Meat is local, and so is produce. In fact, some of the produce comes from the community garden across the street, in which owner Scott had a hand in establishing. They also serve sandwiches, and Ron and I split a delicious avacado, hummus and muenster on wheat bread, which we ate in one of the little seating areas. It made me happy to know that this place exists, and it's not that far from where I live!

Back to Afton for the weekend!