Gifts

Life affords us so many gifts in so many ways.  Today was a gift of a day for me.  Ron M. and I drove up to Afton to spend a little time there, but we didn't get there 'til late, around 11 a.m. because we decided to take our time for a change. Little did I know that he had planned a birthday party for me there!  (Yeah, tomorrow is the actual day, but please... I'm way too old to be celebrating these things!)  At any rate, I was pleased that the Afton Station "gang" wanted to either 1) celebrate my advancing years or 2) make fun of my advancing years.  Turned out it was a little of both.  :-)

Betty made an absolutely delicious strawberry cake -- pink, of course, because for Betty, everything is pink!  Tasted delicious!  Love the little cars and Route 66 sign that decorated it, too!   Besides Ron M. and Betty, Marly, Robin, and Tattoo participated in the cake eating.  I got some nice gifts and cute cards and a fun time was had by all!  

In the few hours we were at the Station, we also had 18 visitors of the traveling sort!  The visit from one couple was especially exciting.  Read to the end to find out why.

Tattoo Man arrived on his Stallion trike (his Chevy still hasn't been shipped back from Las Vegas) and it drew the attention of a visitor from Kentucky immediately on his arrival.

This couple got the distance award for the day, having come from Apple Valley, MN.  Escaping Minnesota weather?  You guessed it!

Other guests came from Peculiar MO, Lancaster KY, Loma Linda MO, Darien KS, and Wyandot, Afton, and Tulsa, OK.  The couple below, from Loma Linda, MO were the special guests I mentioned before because they came with a huge surprise for me.   After their first visit to Afton Station she, Maureen Dennis, wrote a letter to the editor of SPIRIT, the onboard magazine of Southwest Airlines, in which she was very complimentary about their Route 66 trip and especially their visit to Afton Station!   The magazine published it in their December 2013 issue, and furthermore, they featured her letter, printing it in large font above all the other letters.  Wow, I was just blown away!   How nice of these relative strangers to do such a thing! They certainly aren't strangers any more!   

Below is a scan of the article, the best I could do.  Enlarge so you can actually read it.

One more thing.... On the way to Afton this morning we passed by the J.M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum in Claremore as usual, but this time we noticed a bunch of people dressed as cowboys standing in a straight line outside the museum.  What was this all about?   I drove into the parking lot because I'm just naturally curious, and who should we see in the lineup but our own Dean "Crazy Legs" Walker.  He shouted that they were there for a 21-gun salute followed by a shoot-out.  Apparently they're part of a reenacting group.  We couldn't stay, but Ron snapped this photo from a distance.  Dean is 2nd from left, facing the camera (naturally....ha ha...)

And that was my lovely day!   I'm staying home today, so the Station will be closed.  I'm still contemplating the date when we'll return to a regular schedule.  I'll let you all know when the decision is made.