SUMMERS AGO/SCOOPING THE LOOP!

       It's Saturday night and I pull into Skelly's gas station in Laurel and put $2.00 worth of gas in my 57' Chevy. That's about eight to ten gallons. Yes, that's right! Twenty five cents a gallon. From Laurel it's time to head north to the big city of Marshalltown.

      Whether you had a date or just with a buddy, one thing you did was "scoop the loop." Here's the route. Mainly it involved driving down Main Street checking out the other guys, their cars, and the girls. Heading west, you end up turning around and going back at 2nd or 3rd Street.

       The ultimate goal is to Third Avenue, a left and north to swing through the A & W. For my money, eating that is, you'd pull out of the A & W, turn back left and turn in to Kim's which was just a block south on the` west side of Third Avenue. Kim's was a  small diner with limited seating inside. But, basically you waited in your car for a waitress to come out and take your order. She would then bring out your hamburger or tenderloin in a basket and place your food in a metal tray on the side of your car.  It was just like the old TV show "Happy Days" or the movie "American Graffiti." It was a cool place!

       ************* I have written in an earlier story further details about Kim's. I also have an original tray from Kim's in my home purchased from the owner at the time back in the late 1990's. The A & W was where I first saw my first wife, Sandi Ferguson, with her friend Kathy and Kathy's plum colored Ford Galaxy convertible.