Crash! Bang! Boom!

It was a noisy day in Afton today.  There's apparently some roofing being done across the street at the old livery stable building, and every few minutes large pieces of old sheet metal were hurled to the ground with a mighty crash that caused me to jump out of my chair every single time.  I only hope its a repair project and not a tear-down of that historic stone edifice. The owner  has favored demolition over restoration in regard to other buildings in the past.

The better news was delivered by Marly this morning.  A stone monument similar to the one we put up at the Afton section of the 9-foot Highway last fall is going up at the foot of the Miami section of that highway!  That's directly across from Marly's house, and he said its quite nice.  I don't know who sponsored it, but I do recall hearing that the City of Miami was considering doing so.  Now both segments of the historic Ribbon Road will be properly marked.  I'll take a photo the next time I get down that way.

October seems to have settled into a "one day on, one day off" pattern at Afton Station.  Robin, who worked yesterday, was lucky enough to have 24 visitors.  I, on the other hand, had a mere 7 today.  They came from Aurora CO, Rochester IN, Plains GA, and Escondido CA.  The friendly Aurora, CO folks were celebrating the wife's 66th birthday with a jaunt on Route 66.  Lately, its fun to see so many people spending their 66th that way.  As a fellow 66-year-old, I approve.  Hmmm, I wonder where Route 67 is?????

 This absolutely delightful Escondido, CA couple had done a great deal of "homework" prior to taking to the Mother Road. They even managed to attend the Cuba (MO) Fest last weekend and got to meet several Route 66 celebrities, including Jim Hinckley from whom they purchased his newly-published "Route 66 Encyclopedia".  Since my copy hasn't arrived as yet, I thumbed through theirs.  What a wonderful work of research!  (Thanks, Jim, for a great writeup  and photo of Afton Station!)

Here are my new Escondido friends chatting with Mike Pendleton of the Kansas Route 66 Association when he dropped in this morning.

Just a heads-up for anyone planning to travel to or through Afton any time soon.  The sheriff and his boys have been pulling over speeders at a rapid rate for the past few weeks.  Just slow down to 35 when you hit the edge of town and you'll be fine.  Better yet, slow down to 0 in front of Afton Station and come on in for a visit!