An After-Holiday Lull

It's become apparent to me that I can't sleep past 4 a.m. no matter how hard I try or how late I go to bed. I've reverted back to old habits, although even in my best years I never made it past 6. So now I have a lot of time on my hands in the morning. On Afton days, my schedule tends to be like this:

Shower, hair, etc. - 1 hour

Email, Facebook, etc. - 1 hour

Drive to Afton - 2 hours

Stop somewhere for breakfast and newspaper reading - 3/4 hours

That still leaves over an hour, either to open Afton Station early or mess around on the way, explore side roads, snap pictures, etc. I predict you'll be seeing increasing numbers of sunrise photos in the future. Here's today's:
I've decided I'm going to start taking at least one photo each day as I drive to and from Afton. I'll be trying to find new, interesting subjects or just catch new angles on old subjects. Since it's only an 80-mile drive, I guess eventually I'll run out of subjects, but that will take a while. I'm not a great photographer and I don't have a super camera, but I think I know interesting things when I see them. We shall see. For those of us who love Route 66, every newly-discovered nook and cranny is worth sharing.

This is an old horse-drawn milk wagon I found today tucked away next to what appears to be a closed western wear store in Claremore.
I thought about saying that the slightly quiet day at Afton Station today was welcome after the busy weekend, but in reality I much prefer the wildly busy days. Nevertheless, today was relatively calm, with a total of only 14 visitors, not counting visits by "regulars" Betty, Marly, David, and Mike Pendleton (who stopped in twice!). My visitors came from Joplin MO, Minneapolis MN, Owensboro, Waverly, and Henderson KY, and Manford OK. Two groups were motorcyclists. The early arrivals were Harley riders from Minneapolis who were on their way to Tulsa to meet Michael Wallis for lunch. They had ridden with him on one of the early Harley tours he led. Michael told them to be sure to stop in at Afton Station. Thanks, Michael! The Kentucky guys were also on big Hogs. The Manford OK folks were accompanied by a very cute dog named Wally.

David cut the lawn yesterday, so once again you can see the Station without having to peer through foot-high weeds. Yippee! Betty brought me another bunch of sweet-smelling roses. I left for home 45 minutes late due to last-minute visitors. But now I'm home and determined to kick back for a while before bed.