Can't think of a name for this entry :-)

After a succession of thunder boomers interrupted my sleep several times last night, I drove to Afton in a fog, both literally and figuratively. I have just arrived and it appears that the rain has stopped for good. I'm now awaiting my special guest of the day, Lauren Kidd from the alumni office of my alma mater, the University of Kentucky, who has decided she wants to spend the day with me at Afton Station to see what Route 66 is all about. I just hope the weather won't interfere with her plan to drive here from OKC this morning, because I love to show off "my" Route 66 to newbies.

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Well, Lauren arrived, and so did lots and lots of visitors. Since I just got home from dinner (sushi!) with Lauren, I'm a little short on time tonight, so this will be brief. I had visitors from Lakewood CA, Independence KS, Fontana CA, Norwood CA, New Eddingburg AR, Perkins OK, Claremore OK, Richmond KY, Montreal Quebec Canada, Garner IA, Minneapolis MN, Oologah OK, and Paris, France. Also, my friend Emily Priddy from Tulsa came by for a couple of hours on her way to a job in Miami. It was an extremely busy day, and I think Lauren got a good taste of what Afton Station is all about. Just as we were leaving, Marly came by. I left him there to close up, and as we were driving away, two more cars came in. So, the 32 people I recorded as visiting today increased by several after we left.

Lauren (left) and Emily (right)

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Since I won't be home tomorrow night, I'll tell you my plans. Since some old CT friends are coming to OK, I'll be driving up to Afton tomorrow after dialysis, then going to dinner with David, Sylvie and our CT friends, then staying at a motel up there in Afton so I can take my time at dinner and drink a little wine without having to drive back to Tulsa. I'm looking forward to this because although I have recommended the Route 66 Motel (just 2 miles from Afton Station) to many visitors, I've never stayed there myself. I'm not very comfortable recommending a place for which I don't have first-hand knowledge, even though others have told me it's quite nice. After tomorrow night, I'll let you know.

Shameless Self-Promotion

Ron M. is a computer genius, but he doesn't like to admit to that. He is, at the very least, a lot more computer savvy than I am. Remember that article about Afton Station in the University of Kentucky magazine I told you about yesterday? He was able to add the PDF file to my website, so now anyone who might enjoy reading it can do so. Just go to http://tinyurl.com/pn99pt. Thanks, Ron.

I just spoke to David at Afton Station, and he said there were quite a few visitors there today. He also said that the roof is finally being painted! 'Tis another great day in Paradise!

Eat your heart out, Rich Henry!

Rich Henry is a terriffic guy who owns and operates Henry's Rabbit Ranch on Route 66 in Staunton, Illinois. He has a great gift shop, an interesting building and property, and dozens of bunnies! The queen bunny, Montana, passed away last year, but Rich is training another of his crew to take her place as official receiver of visitors. They are great ambassadors of the Mother Road. Anyway..... today Afton Station took on the rabbit theme in honor of Easter weekend. Here are a couple of our bunnies.

Both Tattoo Man and Tripper were embarrassed about posing for these pictures, and made me promise I wouldn't publish them. I guess this proves I just can't be trusted. LOL!

The morning started out slowly, but picked up later. The day was gloriously sunny, a perfect traveling day. Lots of cars and motorcycles drove past, but we only had 13 visitors in total. One group was a mini van that unloaded 8 adults, a la a clown car at the circus. Turned out it was a big family -- mother and father, three adult daughters and their husbands. The parents live in Afton and their kids had come to visit them from North Dakota and Minnesota. We also hosted a father and his young son from Dewey, OK and a very sweet lady from Vinita, OK.

We were closing up when Karen and David Baker arrived. He was sporting a University of Kentucky shirt, so I was delighted to reopen and invite them in. I've never met them before, but I think they were the first folks from my alma mater to darken the door of Afton Station, and I was thrilled!!! They live in Springfield, MO now, but we had some good exchange of college memories before they left.

After the Bakers left, we closed up and headed for home. We left 45 minutes late, so I hopped (to continue the rabbit theme) on the turnpike and floored it. Tomorrow we're supposed to have rain all day. That, combined with the fact that it's a holiday, will probably mean very few visitors, but I plan to go to Afton Station anyway. I really don't have anything else to do.

Happy Easter! Happy Passover!