Oakie's NW Corner...
Brrr... December winds have been blowing in the 2002 New year around
here lately! Yep! It is another beginning of a new year when most
everyone starts making their New Year resolutions. Did you make
any of those? How many have you broken already? Me... I try to keep
my resolutions down to a simple few and make them throughout the
year instead of waiting for January 1st.
Last weekend (Saturday, December 29) we made it back home
to Oklahoma just in time. The next morning when wokeup it was snowing.
It created a lightly dusting in some areas of the state more than
others. The wind chill in Oklahoma has many farmers, ranchers and
Okies shivering across the state from north, south, east and west.
How are Y'all doing? We did finally get some firewood when we got
back... just in time for a cozy fire in the fireplace for New Years
Eve.
 Texas'
Cadilac Ranch -- Speaking of our travels back home... along
I40 (Old Route 66 in some cases)... I did happen to get a
few interesting snapshots. One of which is this shot of ten old
cadilacs with fins and graffitti, buried front down, at 60 degree
angle (or so), in a row just west of Amarillo, Texas on the southside
of old Route 66. Keep an eye out for this strange ornamental site
gracing the Texas landscape.
 Tucumcari,
NM Old Depot... Also along Route 66 stands this deserted old
santa Fe Depot located in Tucumcari, New Mexico. On the west end
of the building you can barely make out the Tucumcari name, but
the "C" is missing.
 By
the time we got to... a little town called Shamrock, in the
Texas panhandle, we got off the Interstate and traveled down the
old Route 66 looking for anything old and a place to eat a late
lunch. We found this great old Tower
Conoco & U Drop Inn Cafe standing deserted, quiet on the
northeast corner of Old Route 66 (I40) & US 83. Did you ever
stop for gas or eat at this unique building way back when.... it
was a thriving Inn & Cafe? Check out the other websites and
links in the "Mailbag & Links" section.
 The
U Drop Inn had this sign out front that read... "U Drop
Inn was donated to the city of Shamrock by the First National Bank
of Shamrock. Tower Conoco U Drop Inn Restoration. Beginning in Spring
2001. Funded by a 1.7 million dollar grant by Texas Dept. of Transportation
and the city of Shamrock." Of course it was not operating
at the time, so we went on over to the Interstate to grab a bite
to eat at the Shamrock Inn & Cafe.
 Finally...
A miniature load! I am not sure exactly where we spotted this last
picture, but it was while we were traveling on I40 east towards
Oklahoma. It was either New Mexico or Texas. Anyway, we were just
driving along and saw this big huge truck trailer hauling a toy-sized
dump truck. You don't really expect to see such a big truck hauling
a single little toy dump truck on the back, do you? At least not
this writer. This is a snapshot of the back
end of the semi-truck scooting east on Interstate 40.
~~ Linda "OaKie"
~~
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A Treasured
Crystal Gift Horse
Thanks to
Our Long Island Friends!
Menu:
Linda K McGill Wagner
c/o WWW Publishing Co
PO Box 619, Bayfield, CO 81122
Thanks! You can also view The OkieLegacy online. Copyrighted © 2008 by WWWPubCo & OkieLegacy.
All Rights Reserved.
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Mailbag & Links....
History
of the U Drop Inn... "In the 1930's, U.S. Higways 66
and 83 were completed through Shamrock. After these highways were
completed, businesses sprouted all along them, specifically the Tower
Service Station and U-Drop Inn Restaurant..... Around Shamrock, the
story goes that when J.M. Tindall decided to build the service station,
he used a design originally drawn by his friend, John Nunn, who picked
up an old nail and scratched out the plans for the building in the
dirt. the local newspaper said that it was 'the swankiest of swank
eating places'and 'the most up-to-date edifice of its kind on the
U.S. Higway 66 between Oklahoma City and Amarillo.' The U-Drop Inn,
where 'Delicious Food Courteously Served' became the standard, was
a welcoming sight to highway travelers and the many buses that pulled
in at the diner."
Okemah, Oklahoma info... "I enjoyed your web site very
much. As a young child living in Okemah, I remember seeing the prisoners
in the back of trucks going to and from the farms. The wall of the
camp where they were held is still standing since it's the football/baseball
stadium. Very nice site."
Farm Subsidy Database... "Here is a couple of web sites
that are interesting. For you farmers, check out the farm subsidies
and see how you compared with your neighbors." -- Farm
Subsidy Database - Click on the State; choose a county, city,
zipcode or name of farm or company and see what they have received
from 1996 thru 2000.
FoodNews.org... This is Environmental
Working Group's site promoting healthier food choices, pesticide-free
foods, and organic farming.
FoodNews.org
Farm
Subsidy News... "Federal farm subsidies have skyrocketed
in the past several years. Congress says that the subsidy programs
are necessary to save small family farms -- but most of the money
goes to the biggest of the big farms, not to the small and medium-sized
farmers who need it the most."
Dirty Money Tracker... Tracking the Dirty
Money by PACs or Candidate. EWG's Dirty Money Tracker is based on
data collected by the Federal Election Commission, lets you see for
yourself how money from anti-environmental corporations and coalitions
affects environmental decision makers.
 Grandpa
with a couple of grandkids... This is an old photo taken back
(I think) in 1970. Our oldest son (Michael, born Oct.
1970) is propped up on his Grandpa Gene's lap with another grandchild
(Teresa Rene') gazing nearby. Gene was recuperating from a broken
leg from a skiing accident that Winter.
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U Drop Inn & Tower Station...
at the crossroads of America - Route 66 (I40) & US 83. "This
mid-century (1936) structure is the last of it's kind and is now going
to be completely renovated to become the striking feature on Old Route
66 for hundreds of miles." -- ShamrockTX
website | More pictures & info on the Tower
Conoco Station & U Drop Inn.
Cadilac
Ranch... "Coming into Amarillo with eager anticipation,
we are craning our necks to find Cadillac Ranch, and there it is.
A hundred yards off Rt.40, running parallel with the national ethos,
10 finny Cadillacs are buried windshield deep in the Texas clay. All
in a row, their backsides airing-up at 60 degree angles, they are
the Car Henge out of ornamenteurs’ lore."
Ghost Town Rally, June 2002... "The Ghost Town Webring
is sponsoring its first annual Ghost Town Rally from June 14th thru
17th. The Rally will be based in Tonopah with day trips to many different
ghost towns in the area. For more information on the activities, please
visit the rally's homepage at GHOST
TOWN RALLY JUNE 2002. We would love to have those interested ghost
town historians join us for a few days of fun!"
Remember When.... "The worst thing you could do at school
was smoke in the bathrooms, flunk a test or chew gum. And the banquets
were in the cafeteria and we danced to a juke box later, and all the
girls wore fluffy pastel gowns and the boys wore suits for the first
time and we were allowed to stay out till 12 p.m. When a '57 Chevy
was everyone's dream car... to cruise, peel out, lay rubber and watch
drag races, and people went steady and girls wore a class ring with
an inch of wrapped dental floss or yarn coated with pastel frost nail
polish so it would fit her finger. And no one ever asked where the
car keys were 'cause they were always in the car, in the ignition,
and the doors were never locked. And you got in big trouble if you
accidentally locked the doors at home, since no one ever had a key.
Remember lying on your back on the grass with your friends and saying
things like 'That cloud looks like a...' And playing baseball with
no adults to help kids with the rules of the game. Remember when stuff
from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals 'cause
no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger. And... with all
our progress... don't you just wish... just once... you could slip
back in time and savor the slower pace... and share it with the children
of the 80's and 90's. Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say,
Yeah, I remember that! And was it really that long ago?"
Beagles Drugstore, etc... On the northside of the square in
Alva, Oklahoma there used to be the Beagles drugstore. Afterwards
it was a furniture store (Darnalls & Fusons). Now... It
houses Floridinos Restaurant owned by Sue McDonald. Does any Woods
County, northwest Oklahoman out there have any other history or information
about Beagles drugstore... especially, old photos to share? |
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Some writings, graphics & photos Copyrighted © February
2001 by WWWPubCo & OkieLegacy. All Rights Reserved.
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