Beter Late Than Never. . .

. . .and today, I honestly thought it was going to be never. What? No visitors on a beautiful, crisp, sunny Saturday at Afton Station? Good grief! I sat there all morning, accompanied by Tattoo Man part of the time, and occasionally hanging out with Marly, Phil, and Robin who were working on the new showroom in the back, and not a single visitor darkened the door of the Station -- until 25 minutes before closing time! I thought we'd been abandoned, or that perhaps the whole town of Afton had been quarantined (not such a bad idea). But then, at about 2:35, the cars and motorcycles started to roll in. Three couples (from Tulsa OK, Maysville OK, and Bellton MO) and two guys from Miami OK on motorcycles literally made my day! We ended the day with eight visitors, but yesterday Robin greeted 17 folks (from England, Fort Worth TX, Michigan, Iowa, and Fairland, Miami, Tulsa, and Vinita OK) so I'm still convinced tourist season on this part of Route 66 isn't over just yet. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

For a while today I thought maybe the most exciting thing that was going to happen was this gigantic "Oversize Load" that passed Afton Station this afternoon. It was one of the longest single loads we've ever seen, and traffic was stopped for quite a while as they were contemplating the strategy of going over the little Horse Creek Bridge.

It's kind of a sorry commentary when a loaded truck is the highlight of the day. Thank goodness for all those last minute visitors. My day ended happily.

I stopped in Vinita this morning on the way to Afton and drove around for a bit. I love this house which is very much in need of some love, but still shows signs of it's unique architectural past.
In downtown Vinita, this small addition to the vintage Vinita Hotel next door reflects the days when city high-rises were a little more than just a pile of faceless brick or steel.

See you back here tomorrow after what I hope will be a crazy, busy day.