Good Morning, Miss Dazey

Ron M. and I sat twiddling our thumbs all morning.  Not a single visitor to Afton Station on this lovely, cool, sunny day on Route 66.   Where was everybody?   It was depressing enough for me to post a little complaint on Facebook which had several of my friends give possible reasons for our dearth of visitors but none made me feel much better about the situation.

Then, just after we watched a couple of people stop and take pictures of the exterior but not come in (something else that always contributes to my bad mood), there were a couple of familiar faces at the door!  My Facebook friend Linda Crim (Miss Dazey) and her husband Mr. Bruce!  I can't think of people who could cheer me up more.  They're from Springfield, Missouri and were on their way to spend a nice day and evening at a local casino.

They were also apparently the catalyst for a veritable flood of other visitors, and at last, the day had begun!  We enjoyed a nice long visit with the Crims before the Station started filling up with an array of other travelers.

Betty had visited with us in the morning, and had just left when her friend Rhonda from Gardener, Kansas drove in on a golf cart  (Well, that's a first!) and along with her were two of her friends also from Gardener.  They were disappointed to have missed Betty but I'm hoping they caught up with each other later in the day.  Rhonda and her friend are opening a restaurant/bakery in Gardener next week and we wished them the best in what will certainly be a major endeavor.

Other visitors included two members of the Oldies 'n Goodies Car Club of Bartlesville, OK who hope to bring the whole club for a visit next summer, repeat visitors from Fontana, CA, four friends from New Zealand, and couples from Kansas City, Missouri and Monett, Missouri.

Leaving Tulsa on our way to Afton early this morning, Ron M. and I stopped to take pictures of a very interesting example of repurposing.   We feel that restoration and reuse of old buildings along Route 66 is of utmost importance, and certainly a far better solution than doing tear-downs.   In this case, a motor court made up of a ring of small cottages has been turned into... well, we're not sure... but although the siding wouldn't have been my first choice, the little buildings certainly look a lot better than they did when they were crumbling in place, and now will be able to be used in a number of ways -- housing, offices, storage, etc.  

After

Before

The buildings can be seen at the corner of 11th St. (Route 66) and 133rd E. Avenue.  Check them out!