Wednesday, December 1, 2010

A Very Aussie Morning

Be warned: This post will be rich with photos. Lots of photogenic things were happening at Afton Station today, and several photographers were recording it all.

This was the morning that Grant Denyer, well-known Australian TV personality, came to Afton Station. Our friend, Aussie tour director Dale Butel, was responsible for their visit. He's guiding Grant and his crew across Route 66 while Grant sends back a week's worth of live broadcasts about his trip for his morning TV show, "Sunrise". We've been very excited about their visit for weeks, and we weren't disappointed.
We rolled out the red carpet. Ron M. made these beautiful posters.

Our greeting party consisted of David, Ron M., Tattoo Man, Michael Wheat, and yours truly. It was a very early morning -- scheduled for 7 a.m. but actually commencing at 8, since Grant had a little trouble with frozen locks on the '79 Caddie he acquired for the trip. He's traveling with his wife (a TV producer) and seven other crew members. It's a big deal! Just look at the satellite truck with which they're sending back live feeds.
Here's Grant. Quite the cutie!
Two cuties! Grant and Dale!

The group stayed for over an hour. They drank coffee, ate some breakfast bread, and enjoyed looking at the cars and Route 66 memorabilia. Lots of filming took place. I adored Grant's wife, 4 months pregnant and traveling with all those guys! Grant was super friendly, as were his entire crew. And of course, I'm crazy about Dale, their guide.
David Kane shows some of the crew around the auto showroom.

Here are a few more photos. All are taken by Ron M. Later, I'm expecting more photos taken by Michael Wheat, Dale, and others, at which time I'll post them.

Laurel, Grant, Ron M.Grant's pretty wife.

Grant drives the '55 Packard. He's a race car driver in Australia, among other achievements.

I'll be back with more later. It was a wonderful morning!

6 comments:

Trevor Hilton said...

I like that Cadillac. It's a great cruiser.

Sounds as if he's having a ball.

Anonymous said...

Laurel, I've been reading your blog from Australia for a couple of months now and am loving it. I was so disappointed I seem to have missed the whole Grant Denyer Does Route 66 thing (don't watch "Sunrise" very often, sadly) because I would have loved to have seen Afton Station on the TV screen here. I'm sure I would have shrieked very loudly and then promptly rolled off my sofa in excitement! Thanks so much for these posts -- fabulous stuff. I'm a huge fan of your writing and photos. x

Laurel said...

Since your very nice comment was labeled "Anonymous", I'm not sure if you've ever been to Afton or if I've met you. If not, I do hope you'll plan a trip to the U.S. some day so I can meet you in person. It feels so good to hear that someone from so far away is enjoying my little blog. Thank you!

Beth said...

How exciting! And dang, you're right...major cutie! :)

Umesh said...

Nice blog ! thanks for the info, if you want to know more information about aussie racing cars then visit Aussie Racing Cars

Umesh said...
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