| What is My Connection to Route 66? |
| the same schools in Milford. On graduation, Fred joined the Navy as a radioman on warships in the Pacific and I went to Michigan Normal College. Then the war ended. I went to California to be there when Fred's ship finally came home. After 3 months of waiting in San Fransisco, Fred was discharged into civilian life and we got married in a small church in Mill Valley, California on December 5th. We then wanted to return home to Michigan, however, thousands of other military men were also on their way home. Bus, Air and Train terminals were full to overflowing so |
Then it was my turn...
My story begins like this... In 2002 my Mother-in-law, Shirley Bradley, was living in England and wanted to
move to the states. She asked Guy, my husband, to find her a place where she would be comfortable. In
his search he came across a website, www.findyourspot.com that promises if you fill out their on-line
questionnaire, they will find you the perfect place to live. He gave it a try, answering the questions as if
he were his mom, and in return the website gave him 2 pages of cities and towns that they said Shirley
would be happy living in. With this list in hand, we went on a 'road trip' to Arizona to check out these
towns and to find the perfect place for Shirley to live. And, find it we did. Bisbee, Arizona. Within months
Shirley moved to Bisbee and settled in nicely.
An act that would change our life!
We had so much fun doing this for her that we decided to revisit 'findyourspot.com' and see what cities
and towns it would come up with for us.
We never anticipated that 'findyourspot.com' would change our lives. We had been looking for a bigger
home with some land on and off for the last couple of years, but in California, unless you make millions,
there is no such thing as a 3000 sq ft house with an acre of land. We loved living in California and never
considered living anywhere else, but... findyourspot.com changed all that. What they chose for us were
places in and around Missouri and Oklahoma. Not really what we expected but hey, let's give it a try. We
took our list of towns and ventured onto another website, UnitedCountry.com and started looking at real
estate in Missouri and Oklahoma. What resulted in our search was full color brochures of available real
estate in MO & OK arriving in our mailbox daily. My daughter Samantha, who was 11 at the time, and loved
playing 'secretary', was in charge of these brochures and would decide whether they were worth keeping
or not. Within a month she had a folder full of them. One particular brochure had a house that Samantha
thought would be perfect for us. So she kept shoving it under our noses. And, lo and behold, by being
the good little secretary that she was, Samantha's persistence paid off and we fell in love with her
'perfect house'.
Yippee! "Road Trip!"
We called the United Country office that had the 'perfect house' listed and found out it was still available.
So we made an appointment to view it. That weekend we drove 28 hours straight to our destination,
Chandler, OK, settled into one of the only two lodgings available in town, got a good nights sleep and
woke up the next morning eagerly awaiting our first visit through Chandler. Chandler is a small farming
community of about 3000 people. Unbeknown to us at the time the significance of the following fact,
Historic Route 66 runs right through the middle of this most lovely little town. We had an hour or so to kill
before our appointment with the Realtor so we started driving down 66 to check things out. Cute little
town, a lot smaller and more country then we were use to. It was February, so the weather was somewhat
overcast and there were no leaves on any trees and everything was either grey or brown. Even so, it was
a cute little town.
As we were heading out of town, just as the stretch of road heads uphill into farmland and the speed limit
creeps up to 65, There it was. Our dream house. My husband slammed on the breaks, turned the car
around and parked on the side of the road. We all just sat there and stared. This was the house we drove
28 hours to see. It stood so majestic and lonely underneath this big, huge open sky. This big empty house
needed a family - it was waiting for a family. It was waiting for us. So we bought it.
Historic Route 66
One month later, as we were settling into our new town and new home, it became apparent that we were
living on a very famous highway. It clicked in my head that this was the highway that my mom and dad
hitch-hiked on their honeymoon. It was also the road my brother traveled a couple years ago with a
antique car group as their photographer. But I think what really hooked me into the whole Route 66 thing,
were the many travelers I watched driving by my house. I have a nice front porch and I love sitting and
watching as the traffic drives by. This is what I see: Motorcycles - big groups of motorcycles, Harley's,
vintage cars from the early days, 1950's and 60's hot rods, convertibles, cyclist, the fat man walking, a
jogger carrying a torch... I keep telling myself to get a camera to capture what I see.
Watching the traffic is what I love about this road, what I have grown to appreciate are the small towns
along Route 66 who were once thriving but now struggle daily to survive. I know that sounds so cliché,
but it's true. These towns who once occupied prime commercial property on a main drag across 8 states,
were once a part of a bustling, growing, community. To see them now, only one short breath away from
becoming a ghost town you can imagine what happened to them when the new, faster, interstate opened
up and bypassed them. These small towns are now dependent on the 'locals'. Locals who must choose
daily to either support their small community and live slightly 'in the past' with few choices, or, be enticed
by the big city with the 'new age' freedoms just a short distance down the turnpike.
Moving from a large urban area to a small town has given me the opportunity to experience two different
ways in which to live. Living in a small town is like living in a large family; I have 9 brothers and sisters so
I know of what I speak. To give you an example... I work part-time in a small retail store in the neighboring
town of Wellston (pop. 1000). The store I work for resides on 66B, which use to be Route 66, but became
66B when the county bypassed the town with a 'new Route 66 alignment'. (Needless to say, this town has
had to survive two bypasses, the 'new alignment' and the turnpike.) I have noticed that entrepreneurs in
this small town are very good at diversifying. They own not 1 or 2 business', but 3 or more. They have to
supply more than one need because the percentage of customers per square mile is very small.
Back to my example... To keep the retail store profitable we keep in stock our customer's favorite items
and will special order something that they want to try, if they end up liking it, we will stock it. We call our
customers by name and ask them how their family is - this can take up to 10-15 minutes. We will make
sure their normal purchases are in stock on the day they normally come in. When customers are low on
cash we let them take items on a promise that they'll be in on Friday to pay. This my friend does not
happen in the big city.
What does the outside traveler experience when they travel Route 66 and stop in one of these small
towns. They experience real life in that particular neck of the woods. Since these business' cater mostly
to their own residents, you get to live life as the 'locals' do if only for a day. You eat what they eat while in
their restaurants, you purchase gifts they like to give when you shop their gift shops, you make a friend
and hear the local news if you stand in one spot for more than a minute. And, if you are going to be in a
small town for more than a day or two, make sure you check to see if there is a pie auction going on.
When a family comes unto hard times and needs help financially, a local church will hold a pie auction and
the whole town will turn out for it. These are not store bought pies either, homemade coconut cream,
banana cream, pecan, Italian cream cakes, blackberry cobblers, etc... The Auctioneers are really good at
working up a frenzy and you can end up paying anywhere from $20 - $60 for one pie! You will have a smile
on your face when you write the check, guaranteed. Pie auctions are a lot of fun. It's the epitome of a
small town; a whole community coming together to help one of their own.
My story begins like this... In 2002 my Mother-in-law, Shirley Bradley, was living in England and wanted to
move to the states. She asked Guy, my husband, to find her a place where she would be comfortable. In
his search he came across a website, www.findyourspot.com that promises if you fill out their on-line
questionnaire, they will find you the perfect place to live. He gave it a try, answering the questions as if
he were his mom, and in return the website gave him 2 pages of cities and towns that they said Shirley
would be happy living in. With this list in hand, we went on a 'road trip' to Arizona to check out these
towns and to find the perfect place for Shirley to live. And, find it we did. Bisbee, Arizona. Within months
Shirley moved to Bisbee and settled in nicely.
An act that would change our life!
We had so much fun doing this for her that we decided to revisit 'findyourspot.com' and see what cities
and towns it would come up with for us.
We never anticipated that 'findyourspot.com' would change our lives. We had been looking for a bigger
home with some land on and off for the last couple of years, but in California, unless you make millions,
there is no such thing as a 3000 sq ft house with an acre of land. We loved living in California and never
considered living anywhere else, but... findyourspot.com changed all that. What they chose for us were
places in and around Missouri and Oklahoma. Not really what we expected but hey, let's give it a try. We
took our list of towns and ventured onto another website, UnitedCountry.com and started looking at real
estate in Missouri and Oklahoma. What resulted in our search was full color brochures of available real
estate in MO & OK arriving in our mailbox daily. My daughter Samantha, who was 11 at the time, and loved
playing 'secretary', was in charge of these brochures and would decide whether they were worth keeping
or not. Within a month she had a folder full of them. One particular brochure had a house that Samantha
thought would be perfect for us. So she kept shoving it under our noses. And, lo and behold, by being
the good little secretary that she was, Samantha's persistence paid off and we fell in love with her
'perfect house'.
Yippee! "Road Trip!"
We called the United Country office that had the 'perfect house' listed and found out it was still available.
So we made an appointment to view it. That weekend we drove 28 hours straight to our destination,
Chandler, OK, settled into one of the only two lodgings available in town, got a good nights sleep and
woke up the next morning eagerly awaiting our first visit through Chandler. Chandler is a small farming
community of about 3000 people. Unbeknown to us at the time the significance of the following fact,
Historic Route 66 runs right through the middle of this most lovely little town. We had an hour or so to kill
before our appointment with the Realtor so we started driving down 66 to check things out. Cute little
town, a lot smaller and more country then we were use to. It was February, so the weather was somewhat
overcast and there were no leaves on any trees and everything was either grey or brown. Even so, it was
a cute little town.
As we were heading out of town, just as the stretch of road heads uphill into farmland and the speed limit
creeps up to 65, There it was. Our dream house. My husband slammed on the breaks, turned the car
around and parked on the side of the road. We all just sat there and stared. This was the house we drove
28 hours to see. It stood so majestic and lonely underneath this big, huge open sky. This big empty house
needed a family - it was waiting for a family. It was waiting for us. So we bought it.
Historic Route 66
One month later, as we were settling into our new town and new home, it became apparent that we were
living on a very famous highway. It clicked in my head that this was the highway that my mom and dad
hitch-hiked on their honeymoon. It was also the road my brother traveled a couple years ago with a
antique car group as their photographer. But I think what really hooked me into the whole Route 66 thing,
were the many travelers I watched driving by my house. I have a nice front porch and I love sitting and
watching as the traffic drives by. This is what I see: Motorcycles - big groups of motorcycles, Harley's,
vintage cars from the early days, 1950's and 60's hot rods, convertibles, cyclist, the fat man walking, a
jogger carrying a torch... I keep telling myself to get a camera to capture what I see.
Watching the traffic is what I love about this road, what I have grown to appreciate are the small towns
along Route 66 who were once thriving but now struggle daily to survive. I know that sounds so cliché,
but it's true. These towns who once occupied prime commercial property on a main drag across 8 states,
were once a part of a bustling, growing, community. To see them now, only one short breath away from
becoming a ghost town you can imagine what happened to them when the new, faster, interstate opened
up and bypassed them. These small towns are now dependent on the 'locals'. Locals who must choose
daily to either support their small community and live slightly 'in the past' with few choices, or, be enticed
by the big city with the 'new age' freedoms just a short distance down the turnpike.
Moving from a large urban area to a small town has given me the opportunity to experience two different
ways in which to live. Living in a small town is like living in a large family; I have 9 brothers and sisters so
I know of what I speak. To give you an example... I work part-time in a small retail store in the neighboring
town of Wellston (pop. 1000). The store I work for resides on 66B, which use to be Route 66, but became
66B when the county bypassed the town with a 'new Route 66 alignment'. (Needless to say, this town has
had to survive two bypasses, the 'new alignment' and the turnpike.) I have noticed that entrepreneurs in
this small town are very good at diversifying. They own not 1 or 2 business', but 3 or more. They have to
supply more than one need because the percentage of customers per square mile is very small.
Back to my example... To keep the retail store profitable we keep in stock our customer's favorite items
and will special order something that they want to try, if they end up liking it, we will stock it. We call our
customers by name and ask them how their family is - this can take up to 10-15 minutes. We will make
sure their normal purchases are in stock on the day they normally come in. When customers are low on
cash we let them take items on a promise that they'll be in on Friday to pay. This my friend does not
happen in the big city.
What does the outside traveler experience when they travel Route 66 and stop in one of these small
towns. They experience real life in that particular neck of the woods. Since these business' cater mostly
to their own residents, you get to live life as the 'locals' do if only for a day. You eat what they eat while in
their restaurants, you purchase gifts they like to give when you shop their gift shops, you make a friend
and hear the local news if you stand in one spot for more than a minute. And, if you are going to be in a
small town for more than a day or two, make sure you check to see if there is a pie auction going on.
When a family comes unto hard times and needs help financially, a local church will hold a pie auction and
the whole town will turn out for it. These are not store bought pies either, homemade coconut cream,
banana cream, pecan, Italian cream cakes, blackberry cobblers, etc... The Auctioneers are really good at
working up a frenzy and you can end up paying anywhere from $20 - $60 for one pie! You will have a smile
on your face when you write the check, guaranteed. Pie auctions are a lot of fun. It's the epitome of a
small town; a whole community coming together to help one of their own.
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Bradley's Pottery
US Route 66 - Family's
Rt. 66 Connections
US Route 66 - Family's
Rt. 66 Connections
It all started with my parents, Fred and Valerie Dicks. (as told by my mother) OUR TRIP PAST JULIE'S HOUSE In 1945, WW2 ended with Japan's surrender and America could finally return to normal after 4 years of deprivation and sacrifice of our young men and women in far off countries. We both grew up in Michigan and as teenagers attended |
| Mom, Dad and my brother James |
| we hitch-hiked Route 66 like so many others. Miles of servicemen were along the highways, all with their thumbs out to hitch a ride. Since family cars were not produced during the war, only salesmen could offer these servicemen a lift. Fred had a young lady in a pink suit with him, and carried a suitcase that said 'MI BY XMAS', so getting a ride was easy and we made good time. Because we were newlyweds, the |
| salesmen would sometimes buy us dinner. In Needles, AZ we made a side trip to the Grand Canyon, and eventually arrived home by Christmas! Unwittingly, we passed the very house that our daughter Julie, and her husband, Guy, would buy almost 60 years later. We wish we could remember it. We do however, remember the local dialect and the friendly Oklahoma people. Fred and I have since enjoyed a wonderful, amazing life with great family support and much love. Then my brother, James traveled the road. (my brother's recollection will be inserted here) |
| Mom & Dad at Earl Carroll's on the night they decided to marry. |