My cousin sent me this picture from Alva, Oklahoma on Monday. The blizzard dumped 20 inches of snow and caused the Sonic Drive-In to collapse. No more soft drink happy hours in Alva for a while it seems.

Visiting Alva, Oklahoma this weekend and saw this old Studebaker Champion sitting in a parking lot.

My great-grandmother Carrie Mae with my great-aunt Elsie and my grandfather Floyd. About 1912.

The Piggly Wiggly grocery store in Alva, Oklahoma, 1930s

My great-grandmother’s house in Alva, Oklahoma. I wish I could live there all year long. [I should have added that my great-grandmother is no longer living and her house is now a bed & breakfast called The Vintage Inn.]

Old postcard of the Bell Hotel in Alva, Oklahoma. Late 1950s or early 1960s. 

I spent most of the past week in Alva and other small northwestern Oklahoma towns visiting relatives for Thanksgiving and am finally back home in Dallas now. This “fireproof” hotel is still standing but is no longer in operation.

Snapshots of someone’s new car, Alva, Oklahoma, early 1900s

Farm vehicles all in a row. Alva, Oklahoma, early 1900s

Postcard of my great-grandparents’ house in Alva, Oklahoma, circa 1905

Empty hay wagon on my grandparents’ farm near Alva, Oklahoma. Early 1950s.