To Afton Station and Nowhere

Hallelujah!   Back to Afton Station at last!   Ron M. and I drove up this morning intending to stay for just a few hours to check on things there, but we ended up staying until 2 p.m.  It felt so good to be there, and we found everything in perfect order.  Better yet, Phil knew we were coming so he got there early, opened everything up and turned up the heat.  When we pulled up, he was already busy showing some visitors from Grants Pass, Oregon around the showroom. 

Before long, Betty arrived, followed by Marly!  Then, much to our surprise, Tattoo Man (recovering from surgery) and his wife Roz dropped in on their way to an appointment !  Except for Robin, who had a morning job elsewhere, the whole gang had assembled.  It was the perfect way for me to feel totally recovered from my recent illness and rarin' to go!

We had other visitors today too, which made me start thinking that maybe it isn't the best idea to be totally closed in January and February.  Of course, today was a beautiful sunny unseasonably warm day, perfect for travelers.  There probably won't be many more of those this winter.   Our other visitors included a family of five from Ponca City OK, out on a geocaching expedition, who found themselves happily distracted by our vintage car collection.  Later we visited with these five cute "tween" girls (below) from Afton who were spending a Saturday afternoon taking pictures around the town.  Once they saw the cars in our museum, they found a whole new topic for their photographic project!

Around noon, Robin arrived and Marly and Betty had to leave.  Those of us remaining decided it was the perfect time to pay a visit to our new neighbor, NOWHERE ON ROUTE 66, the recently opened barbecue joint two blocks north of Afton Station.  What a great spot!   The decor is just perfect -- feed sacks on the ceiling, old photos of Afton (mostly provided by me, actually), rustic furniture, a long bar, unique restrooms (come see for  yourself), big screen for watching sports, and "Friends in Low Places" blaring from the sound system.  And the barbecue sandwiches were delicious and enormous, made on ciabatta bread rather than the usual burger buns.  We were all quite impressed.  They have a beer license so they stay open later at night for adults who want a place to congregate, something that's been missing in Afton since I've been there.  I'm thrilled to be able to now recommend to our traveling friends a quality eatery right in Afton.  

It was such a good day... so wonderful to see all my friends and have time to visit with them.  I think I'll be heading back to Afton often in February, although I probably won't be "officially" open until March.     It's so hard to stay away.