Accompanied by this magnificent sunrise, I drove to Afton early today to meet a reporter/photographer from a consortium of local newspapers who is going to do a piece on Afton Station/Route 66 Packards for publication just before spring break. It is the hope of the newspaper that the article will drive business in our direction during a time when plenty of folks are on the road. I'm a little skeptical about the number of families who will be traveling in a few weeks, since everyone I talk to is suffering from gasoline sticker shock right now. It's up to $3.19/gallon here in our part of Oklahoma, and we usually have one of the lower gas prices in the country. I'm even getting concerned about my own 160-mile round trip to and from Afton. So, we'll see.
Michael, the reporter, stayed for about 90 minutes and took scads of photos. Here he is (the one on the right with the cameras, of course) chatting with David and Marly.I was only in Afton for about two hours, but in that time I had drop-in visits from Tattoo Man, Robin, and Phil. Then it got really busy when several people stopped by to discuss the mechanics of that surprise I hinted at a few days ago. I hate to keep my readers in the dark, but I think I'd feel better about blabbing about it after it's a 100% done deal. As of now, it's only 99%, with only one tiny glitch to work out.
On the way home from Afton, I happened to notice that the Chelsea Motor Inn in Chelsea has a new sign. I sincerely hope it helps to steer new customers to Frank and Trudy's exceptional mom 'n pop motel, one of the best on Route 66! There are only 5 rooms, but each one is pristine and immaculate, and the friendliness of Frank and Trudy alone is worth the cost of a room. Reasonable rates, too!
I also stopped to take a quick peek at the newly uncovered "mushrooms" behind the Ark at the Blue Whale in Catoosa. They've been there all along, having been constructed by Mr. Davis when he opened his water park back in the early '70s. They had just been covered with vegetation for years, until a group of volunteers cleaned up the field a couple of weekends ago. The photo doesn't give a good idea of their size. Some are 3 or 4 feet tall.
