Bicycle Bounty

That bounty consisted of 18 bikes, and I don’t mean motorcycles.  I’m talking about the most appealing group of 18 “kids” (ages 19 to 24) who are taking on the amazing feat of cycling approximately 4,000 miles across the U.S. from Portland, Maine to Santa Barbara, California, and today some of them stopped in to Afton Station.   They pedal about 70 miles a day, are put up at night on the floors of churches across the country, and if that’s not enough, they stop every few days, not to rest, but to build Habitat for Humanity houses!   The program is called Bike and Build, and you can read about it here:  www.bikeandbuild.org., Believe me, the details of this fine program are worth reading. The full program consists of 7 groups of about 50 kids each, each following a different path across the U.S.   Not everyone in the Route 66 group stopped at the Station, but the 18 who did were all having a ball.  A happier, more motivated group of young people I haven’t seen for ages.

 

My vocal cords are just about shot and I’m very tired.   It was a huge day at the Station today, so I’m certainly not complaining.   Phil opened and closed for me and Tattoo Man was there for a bit in between so I wasn’t really alone much, but I simply talked too much, and it’s so hard to shout over the roar of the air conditioner.  Also, I could use a bit of sleep. 

Our other 26 guests came from Guthrie OK, St. Moritz Switzerland, Johannesburg South Africa, Springfield MO, Shawnee OK, Ketchum OK, Sunset TX, Glenville NY, Florence MS, Owasso OK, and Bergen Norway. 

Our first visitors of the morning were these two from Guthrie, OK doing a bit of the Mother Road on yet another scalding hot day. 

Say hello from this enthusiastic couple from St. Moritz, Switzerland!

And this cute couple is on an extended honeymoon – 7 weeks in the U.S., then two months in South America.  Wow!   Of course, a large part of their U.S. visit will be spent on Route 66.

 Here, our Norwegian guests are filming the Official Signing of the Guest Book!

 And now, please excuse me while I gargle a little lemon juice and retire for the evening.  I realize my posts have been mostly just photos lately, but flowery language isn’t really on my agenda right now.  Ron M. has one more surgery tomorrow.   Keep sending happy thoughts his way.  And stick around.  I’ll be back in fine form soon.