Shriners, plus. . .

What a day at Afton Station today! This is the scene that met us when Ron M. and I pulled into the Station at 9:25 this morning.

Forty-six men from Topeka, KS, members of the Arab Shrine there, came for a visit in a big tour bus. I knew they were coming, but not what time. It was great. We opened quickly and everyone was happy. These guys really knew their old cars and had lots of questions and comments. From Afton Station, they were proceeding to Darryl Starbird's Museum, Har-Ber Village, and a night on the town in Grove.

I wasn't sure if we'd have a big day, but we did. October is traditionally (if you can call four years "tradition") a very busy month at Afton Station. Looks like this one will be the same, although it will have to go a long way to beat last month, which was far, far bigger than any other September since I've been keeping records.

This cute young couple was the last in the door today. They're traveling a portion of Route 66 on this trip. They come from Newport News, VA, and were my favorite type of visitor -- enthusiastic, happy, friendly, and knowledgable about Route 66.

And, in between, we visited with 21 other great travelers: three women traveling the Route from the Rochester MN area, who are medical workers at the Mayo Clinic, a family from Portland, OR, who were visiting their kids in Vinita, OK, two women from Springfield, MO, who turned out to be postcard collectors just like me (hooray!), two fellows from Chester and Sterling, OK, enjoying a perfect motorcycle day, and more people from Joplin, MO, Saginaw, MI, Fayetteville, AR, and Claremore, OK. Tattoo Man and his wife Roz surprised us by dropping in on their way home from a trip to Iowa.

No, they haven't done any more with the collapsed building across the street, and no they haven't done anything about the mess they dug up in our side "yard". And yes, the water is still leaking there and "Lake Afton" is starting to reappear. Sigh. . .