Back to Last Months Brick Swap

This entry was started on Thursday June the 18^th. Finally I got it finished up…..

Got home from the road Monday evening. WHEW! This past month of back to back road trips has me tore up. Bill headed back to Florida early Wednesday morning, so I have my house back to myself again. First thing I did was to turn off the air conditioner! I was a nervous wreck hearing that compressor cycle all the time!

For the record let me rehash the “Brick Swap” in Hastings, OK.This entry covers Friday, May 22, 2009.

It was a 190 mile trip from Dallas to the host Hampton Inn located in Burkburnett, TX. I left the Motel Six around 10:00 a.m. I wanted to give the traffic a chance to clear out. I planned to have a leisurely trip this day. The traffic was flowing easily as I headed north. There was no rush to get to the hotel early so I poked in the little towns that were by-passed by the main road.

Business 81 into Decatur.

Decatur, Texas was my first stop. I had to stop and backtrack to get some pictures of the “Petrified Wood Station” a landmark in this Texas county seat. What a testament to the motor courts that once dotted the countryside in the early days of automotive travel. The day was heating up. I tried to put myself back in time to the 1920’s traveling to Decatur over rough roads in a Model T Ford and stopping here for gas and refreshment…..

The downtown Decatur area was under a great deal of construction. The city square proudly boasted a magnificent stone court house. I poked around in some of the antique shops actually finding a Coffeyville “Sunflower” brick. I had the shop owners fascinated explaining the brick swap I was headed to. I overpaid for the brick, but I like to think I was supporting a small business, and it gave me souvenir of Decatur.

Headed north I was getting hungry. Exiting the main road I passed the crossroads community of Alvord. On the southwest corner of the crossroad intersection I spied a café with lots of vehicles parked in front. That looks good to this boy. I pulled a “U” turn on the deserted road and parked on the side of the building. Being a local place, I felt all heads turn and look when I entered. The waitress said to sit anywhere. I picked out a spot under a ceiling fan and got a sweet tea right off the bat. It was served Texas style in a HUGE glass with LOTS of ice.

I love eating in these places. My waitress was a friendly “Texas Girl’ who called me “Hon” and told me that I had to get the specialty of the café, the hamburger plate. I’m a pushover when I get a recommendation in this fashion. My lunch turned out to be a huge burger (cooked medium rare) with fresh home cut fries. The burger was half wrapped in waxed paper making it so easy to hold and eat. What a delicious lunch. My iced tea was kept topped off….. I swear I was sloshing when I walked back to the truck!

I arrived to the Hampton Inn right around three in the afternoon. A number of my friends from the Brick Collectors Club were in the lobby. I knew what this meant; a lot of the rooms were not made up yet. Fortunately my room was ready. It was heaven to crash onto a comfortable bed in a cool room.

The gathering tonight was about 30 miles away just over the Oklahoma border at Tab’s ranch. I left the hotel after a cooling shower to rendezvous with the other brick collectors at Tab’s place.

Driving over the flat empty countryside brings home how huge this country is. I printed out the directions from Google maps for the detailed directions. Out here using the mileage between points is more accurate than trying to count on non existent road signs. Tab had a placard at the intersection of his road greatly simplifying things.

What a spread he has put together. I had a great discussion with Tab’s sister and brother in law who explained to me how Tab at age 14 went to work and began to buy up land for his own place. There was a separate building housing the brick collection. Being an old time collector this collection had many rare bricks that never turn up any more.

Burgers cooked on the grill and the fixings that normally go with them was dinner. I’m sure getting my share of beef! But, these burgers were also delicious. These get-togethers are always so interesting. There is such a cross section of people who are in this organization. One of the mottos of the IBCA (International brick Collectors Association) is “some of the nicest people you will ever meet” are members!

I left before it got dark as I did not want to be driving on the country roads at night. Before turning onto the main county road from Tab’s I had to stop and snap a few pictures. The sun going down on the expanse of prairie and a huge field of what I’m assuming are “Black Eyed Susan” flowers nearly as far as the eye can see.