Newkirk on Historic Route 66

Stopped for gas at this tiny relic from another time.

 

Update:  It's a gas station, the post office, and a tiny store, all in one.

 

 

There's no pay-at-the-pump option here.  This old pump still has the old fashioned indicator numbers that click by on a wheel.  I haven't seen one of these in a coon's age.  It was kinda' neat.  Kinda' Route 66, ya' know?

 

 

All they have is regular unleaded.  The lady in the tiny store told me they sold additive to boost the octane for fussy engines, but I declined.  Goose had half a tank of premium, so half a tank of regular wouldn't kill her.  They have two islands of pumps, which was big-time back in the day.  This is looking off toward Highway 40, at the other island I didn't use.

 

 

There was some kind of bird with a substantial nest up in the rafter of the roof over the pumps.  I couldn't get a good shot of her, but she was pretty and that nest was something else.

 

 

The one-room bathroom had this neat old retro heater in it.  I doubt it works, but it looked neat.  Sadly, there was no potty paper in this restroom, and a sign saying restrooms were only for gas customers.  It's a bit of a hard-scrabble life here.  I guess they just get by.

 

 

I bought a couple Route 66 souvenirs and talked to the lady who sold me the gas.  She told me they considered it hot there, but people from humid places like Florida thought it was pleasant.  I said it was a relief to be out of the Midwest humidity.  She told me the trains that went by every hour on the other side of the road (the historic old Route 66 alignment) caused their buildings to crack because of the vibration, and blew their horns far more than necessary.  She seemed tired, as though she wanted to fade away with so much else that once thrived along the Mother Road.  I asked if she would mind being in my blog, and she said no thank you.  She's in it anyway, just not her picture.