Texaco Miracle

After hearing about a famous old Idaho Petrolania collector over and over again but not being able to find his phone number anywhere or from anyone, my wife and I finally decided to drive across the State of Idaho and see if we could locate this famous Picker. While we were in route from Twin Falls to Blackfoot, on the back roads of course, to find him, we stopped in another little town to ask around about another Pump collector/restorer we had heard about along the way. Since he wasn't home we asked a few neighbors about signs and pumps and soon learned about a Texaco sign out in front of an old Station that had been converted to a bar years back. We were told that it was in the little town of Atomic City and was only about 20 mi North and it was worth the trip. Being an old "goose hunter" from days gone by, we headed off to see what was out there! We drove and we drove and we saw absolutely nothing inspiring or enticing and finally after going closer to 30 mi than 20, we saw the turn off to Atomic City. Really we thought? It was a town of maybe two dozen mobile homes and as we got closer we could see an old abandoned gas station with no pumps and no sign. Gloom immediately hit us hard until we looked up the street about 2 blocks North and could see what looked like a Texaco Lollypop sign in the distance!!!! Zowie! It was for real! We immediately drove up to the old bar that previously had been the gas station, to see a "business for sale sign" on the glass door and people inside. I couldn't get out of the truck fast enough and was in the bar in a heartbeat asking all the questions of a nervous teenager trying to get his first date with the Prom Queen. Lucky me, I happened to find the bar owner and his new wife inside at a table and to my amazement they agreed to sell me the sign!!! I couldn't shell out the cash fast enough and soon I had my new sign purchased. Unbelievable I thought! When I asked if anyone had a tractor with a front bucket I was told that only the city had one. No problem I thought, as this was a very small "city". I drove about 2 blocks and found people in a home and knocked the door to find it was the Mayors house and her husband was the council member that drove the tractor. I soon had him hired and we went out to take the sign down. The rest of the story was as exciting as the first but I will save it for another day. Needless to say we did get the sign and got it home in its pristine original condition and put it up at aaaLakeside Storage in front of our cool antique Texaco Gas Station full of antique cars. The fun is in the hunt!