Prime the pumps

The gas pumps at Roy’s in Amboy, Calif., began working again in earnest on Thursday, reports the Inland Press-Enterprise.

Hundreds of travelers, including motorcyclists on the annual Laughlin River Run, stopped in to cool off with sodas and water and to fuel their vehicles.

Even before Okura formally reopened the restored gas station at 11:30 a.m., more than 200 vehicles had filled up at the pumps, paying a hefty $4.49 a gallon.

“It’s not about the gas,” said Jose Ramirez, 42, of Corona, who was making his fourth river run with his wife on a Harley-Davidson soft-tail motorcycle. “It’s about resting and hanging out with the guys. The price won’t matter to people. Once you get here, you’re going to buy it anyway.”

Albert Okura purchased the nearly deserted Mojave Desert town on Route 66 several years ago. He’s been slowly restoring the town ever since.

It cost $75,000 and took more than twice as long as Okura expected to restore the gas station.

“This was real hard because I’ve never had a gas station,” Okura said. “We had to meet all the environmental laws and the state laws and the federal laws. There were no permits on file for anything in town, so I had to start from scratch.” […]

The toughest part comes next, when Okura plans to spend $700,000 to drill a water well and install a filtration system.

“The (San Bernardino County) health department doesn’t want us to do anything further until we get potable water,” Okura said. […]

Okura said he thought he might get a lot of business with the bikers passing through, but he said he won’t make a lot of money selling gas. He pays $3.90 a gallon.

“I’m just happy to get open,” he said. “It means we’re finally getting the town restored the way it used to be.”

The story has several photos, including a new tattoo of Roy’s on Ron “Tattoo Man” jones of Bartlesville, Okla.

UPDATE: Don Gray took dozens of photos at Amboy during the event, which can be seen here.

UPDATE2: Here’s a video report filed by KABC-TV of Los Angeles.

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