Fasten seatbelts. Long flight ahead.

Well, I'm back from a wonderful, fun-filled, awesome weekend at Afton Station. This had to be just about the best yet! Where to begin? This post will be heavy on photos, so be warned. I will attempt to be concise, but don't hold your breath.

Saturday: We were expecting big crowds because of the scheduled Poker Run that was to stop at the Station, but we didn't know we'd have more than 40 other guests as well. A very nice young man named James arrived first, sent to help out by Route 66 Vintage Iron, the antique motorcycle museum that was sponsoring the Poker Run. It was really nice to get to know James, who stayed all day and was very helpful. Of course, the two Rons were also there, thank goodness. Due to the very chilly day, there weren't as many participants in the Poker Run as had been expected, but that lack was made up for by all the other folks who stopped by. There were about 30 bikers, but also over 40 other visitors. And check out where they came from.... quite an array from all over the map! Cleora OK, Tucson AZ, Hidden Hills CA, Stamford CT, Jay OK, Englewood NJ, Los Angeles CA, Miami OK, Aurora CO, Silver Lake KS, Evergreen CO, Iowa City IA, Naperville IL, N. Ridgefield OH, Grand Rapids MI, Flint MI, Oklahoma City OK, Springtown TX, and Langley OK. And, from other countries....Berne Switzerland, Frankfort Germany, and Windsor Canada!

James from Route 66 Vintage Iron

Lining up to draw their poker hands, and doing a little milling around

We had a special guest from Windsor, Ontario Canada. She's Sandi Wheaton, a professional photographer who is traveling Route 66 taking photos for a potential book. She specializes in infrared photos, and has had several books of her photos published. She does exceptional work. Her coffee table book of Salton Sea photos is breathtaking. See her stuff here: http://www.sandiwheaton.com/. She stayed for a while and took lots and lots of pictures, of both the Station and Tattoo Man's tattoos. Can't wait to see that book when it's published!

Tattoo advises Sandi on other photo ops along Route 66

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Saturday night: As I had mentioned previously, Ron M. and I decided to stay at a motel in Afton for the night, thus avoiding the long trips back and forth to Tulsa on this busy weekend. We checked in to the Afton Route 66 Motel, and lucky me... I got the Elvis Room! I've got to tell you, this motel decor couldn't get much tackier. I thought the Purple Rose Room was bad, but this one takes the cake. Purple everywhere, netting draped around, and large posters of The King everywhere.

Ron had the Wild Animal Room, with African safari wallpaper and a zebra print bedspread. But he had a little extra added attraction, in the form of a REAL wild animal -- a sizeable spider in his bathtub! Eek! (Sorry, no pics of the Wild Animal Room).

After checking in, we went to dinner at a new restaurant in Miami called Stonehill Grill. Good food, but a huge mixup with our order, which caused our dinner to be delivered to us 45 minutes late. The manager felt really terrible about the whole thing, and ended up giving us our steak dinners free! We didn't make a fuss at all, and even left a small tip. Good food, nice people, and everyone makes mistakes every now and then.

After dinner, we drove back to Afton so I could see the Station in the dark for the very first time (after owning it for 10 years!) Here it is, but it's not a great picture.

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Sunday: Sunday was the big day of the Road Crew concert. I have to tell you, they emphatically DID NOT disappoint! My only disappointment was that the audience was very sparse, but as I've said in the past, it's pretty hard to gather a crowd in a ghost town. I believe I counted 15 people in the audience, including four of our friends that drove up from Tulsa. Brad Nickson is an excellent photographer, and I urge you to check out his photos of the concert here:

A Good Day at Afton Station - offramp's Photos- powered by SmugMug. Brad's pics are far better than mine. The Road Crew played for well over an hour, and even invited an elderly gentleman from Afton to accompany them on the harmonica. Fun! I was just thrilled by the whole day, and thank Joe, Woody, and Don from the Road Crew from the bottom of my heart. They're a truly professional group.

Other guests during the day came from Mukwonago WI, Bartlesville OK, Patterson NJ, Catlett VA, Cascade CO, Wyandotte OK, Brighton MI, Miller MO, and County Kerry, Ireland.

Ron M. took a video of the Road Crew, which I'll post after he edits it. Stay tuned!