My Last Day at 66

No, I'm not moving away from of Route 66.  I'm moving off being 66 years old!   Since I won't be 66 years of age after tomorrow, my crew at Afton Station threw a little birthday party for me today.   That was so sweet of them!  Here I am showing off my beautiful pink roses from Betty and one of the three bottles of Coffee Mate Fat Free Original I got from Ron M.  (Long story about that.  Just suffice to say that it is an extraordinarily thoughtful gift for a dialysis patient who can't drink real milk).  I also got a simply beautiful stained glass piece, hand made by Robin, which I'll photograph tomorrow and post here.   Those colorful balls  you see in the foreground of the photo are cupcakes provided by Betty.  A great time was had by all (especially me!)!

 Meanwhile, it was great to be back at Afton Station again.  Besides the aforementioned Ron M., Betty, and Robin, we were also visited by Marly, Tattoo Man, and Scott from Afton.   I opened the museum today specifically because I thought we might see some folks who are in the region this weekend for the Bassmaster Classic being held at Grand Lake and Tulsa.   Indeed, there are many thousands of folks here for the event, but none of them came to the Station today.  It was probably just too much fun on the lake and they didn't want to leave the competition.  They're in from all over the world for this gigantic event.

We did have 10 visitors, which isn't bad for an icy February Saturday.   They came from Joplin MO, Broken Arrow OK, London England, and right here in Afton.  The four English young men are traveling the full length of Route 66 and, besides being a little nervous about the weather as they cross the country, they're having a ball.   This family from Broken Arrow, OK were just out for a day in the country and seeking some fun along the way.   The fellow from Joplin, David, has visited Afton Station in the past.  He has his own restored gas station in Pittsburg, KS and was looking around for some more memorabilia for his extensive collection.

 Tattoo Man has a new tattoo (surprise, surprise....), the emblem of the German Route 66 Association on his neck.  Looks good, Tat.  Here's the photo you requested.

 On the way home, Ron and I drove downtown in Tulsa and indeed, the whole town is full of folks visiting for the Bassmasters.  I've never seen downtown Tulsa so lively.  I'll be back in Afton tomorrow to attempt to hook and reel in a few of those fishing groupies.  I'm not overly optimistic, but you never can tell.