Hot Rods and Customs

Hunter and Jenna are staying with us this week while Kelly and Marley are in Toronto. Most summers would find us at the creek every day but the severe drought and extreme temperatures have reduced the creek to a few shallow pools along the gravel bar.  So our activities are being confined to air conditioned spaces.  Today we went to Darrel Starbird's Rod and Custom Car Hall of Fame near Grove, Oklahoma. I was sixteen years old in 1961 so these cars came along to feed my adolescent dreams.

The quintessential American hot rod of the 1950's

1951 Mercury

Ed Roth was a custom car designer, and artist who created iconic

hot rod culture characters such as "Rat Fink"

Ed Roth artwork

An Ed Roth design

I probably had every issue of Hot Rod magazine from 1961 -1965

(and every Mad Magazine from 1957-1965)

On the way home we stopped at the Parrot restaurant.

Hunter and Jenna pose in front a cage housing the

restaurant's resident Macaw.

The restaurant sat at the edge of a marina with a view of Grand Lake.