Size Doesn't Matter

It's important for me to remember that when it comes to visitors at Afton Station, the size of the crowd matters very little compared to the quality of the visitors. It's still hard for me to digest the fact that we are greeting considerably fewer visitors this June than during the same time last year. Was it something I've done? Are we being ignored? Emotionally, I ponder these things. Intellectually, I realize that sky-high gas prices combined with the early and intense heat wave are more than likely the reason for the decrease. Nevertheless, it makes me a little bit sad and I can't shake it.

Then again, who cares? It's the people who DO drop in that really count. Today, like so many others, we were visited by an incredibly interesting group of travelers, 16 in all. Ron M. was with me again today and Betty W. spent several hours with us, too. Our friends Reuben and Colleen Tipton from Afton stopped by for a bit. The bad news is that the drought is affecting Reuben's corn crop. After planting four times as much corn this year as last, he's seeing signs that it's going to be a bad growing season. Since he grows the best corn in the world and is kind enough to supply me with a good bit of it, we need a little rain soon so that it can bounce back to life. Do a rain dance for Reuben's corn, please!

Our first visitors were this couple from Sydney, Australia. They bought a Mustang when they arrived in the U.S. and are driving it across Route 66. Very lovely people! They have a good travel blog at Los Angeles to Chicago. Here, they're signing the guest book.
Next, this grandfather and grandson from Canton, Mississippi came to visit. Grandpa transports RVs across the country from manufacturer to sales outlets, and he likes to take his grandsons with him now and then. This little grandson was a delight -- very sweet and full of smiles and, like Grandpa, is very interested in old vehicles and model cars. There was a fun moment when we discovered that the grandfather and I came from the same neighborhood in Cleveland, OH and were even born in the same hospital! I'm older than he is, however, so no chance of crossing paths. I haven't been back there for about 30 years, so he caught me up a bit on what's happening in Cleveland.


Four guys on motorcycles came in out of the heat to grab a little air conditioned air. They are a group of friends from Fort Worth, Bastrop, and Flower Mound, TX and they're doing a portion of Route 66.
Today's visitors also included folks from Bartlesville, OK and Bozeman, MT. I'm still being laid low by this rather severe head cold, but I expect to survive. I just need to stop coughing and get a little energy.