A Great Find

Route 66 friend Josh Friedrich took this photo of artist Bob Waldmire in Illinois putting some finishing touches on the UHaul which now sits in our parking lot.  I'm so pleased that Josh let me use it here.  He took the photo in 2007, shortly before Bob died in 2009.   We are so honored to be the custodian of Bob's UHaul, complete with a great example of his artwork on the side.

Fun Day Sunday

I got home at a more normal time tonight so I'm less exhausted.  Route 66 can sure wear a person out!  But as time goes on, I'll acclimate myself to the schedule and the pace, and today was a good start.  I'm certain, however, that this will be another year of progressively more and more visitors to Afton Station.  That number has increased each year, and because of that I am terribly grateful for my wonderful volunteers, especially Ron M., who is by my side just about every day at Afton.  I'm also grateful for my paid employee Robin, who just yesterday got back from her 5 weeks in California, thank goodness!  I've missed her.

Robin went to California as an Okie and came home a surfer girl!   Check out the tan, the blonde hair, and the tie dye!  Tomorrow she will be back at the Station each Mon., Wed., and Fri.

We had twelve visitors, not including visits from friends Phil, Robin, and Crazy Legs Walker.   Our travelers came from Bloomington IN, Orlando FL, Rockland ME, Kingfield ME, Mars Hill NC, Southport Lancastershire England, and Melbourne Australia.

Here's Ken from England, traveling solo on Route 66, having traveled to America dozens of times before!  His wife decided to forego this particular trip because she doesn't enjoy the Plains!  Ken is a reader of this blog and I was so happy to meet him and chat rather extensively with him today.  Hi Ken!!!

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This couple from Mars Hill, NC (near Asheville) are the proprietors of  a lube place housed in an old gas station in Asheville!    The station is outlined in neon and has old pumps and old cars out front.  What a great idea.   If I lived in the area, I'd definitely have my oil changed in such a neat venue. Check out the picture here.   www.retrolube.com

The Aussies du jour were this good looking couple from Melbourne.  They're doing the full trip and enjoying it very much.

We also greeted old high school friends, one from Florida and one from Indiana, who decided to run the Route together now that they've retired.    Two couples from Maine visited as well.  It was another great day for those of us lucky enough to get to spend time on Route 66.

Just the facts, Ma'am. . .

Nothing quiet about today at Afton Station on Route 66!   When we weren't greeting visitors, we had plenty of reading matter to keep us busy.  However, most of the time we were greeting visitors!   We had 27 of them today, and they included. . .

. . . three pretty sisters from Cushing, Oklahoma who are doing a "sister trip" down a portion of Route 66.

. . . this family from Grand Prairie, Texas, along with adorable 10-month-old son Jacob.  They are just starting to learn about Route 66.  We armed them with plenty of literature and enthusiasm, so I hope they'll continue to explore the Mother Road.

. . . this couple from Jay, Oklahoma.  She is the brand new Afton Postmaster (Postmistress?).  Welcome to Afton, Rebecca!

 . . . several members of the Tulsa Wheels Car Club in Tulsa, OK, out for an afternoon drive which will end at the car show in Miami, OK in the evening.   A lovely '34 Ford and a sleek '84 Pontiac Firebird were part of the group,

There were also visitors from Joplin MO, Grove OK, Claremore OK, Lincoln NE, and Queensland, Australia.

That's about all I can write tonight.   Still getting used to all the visitors and long hours.  I'll be in Afton bright and early tomorrow for more adventures, and I hope you'll join us there if you can, or join me tomorrow evening right here on the blog.

Worth the Trip

It's usually a little difficult for me to drive up to Afton Station after my dialysis treatments, but sometimes I  just have a hunch that it will be worth the trip.   Today was one of those days.  I had been contacted by a gentleman named KC Keefer indicating that he wanted to interview me, and after seeing some of his other interviews on YouTube, I knew I wanted to meet him.  He and  his beautiful partner Nancy Barlow, a couple of the most enthusiasm-infused people we've met, are traveling Route 66 and talking to the people who live and work (and sometimes also those who travel) on the Mother Road.

So, Ron M. and I drove up to Afton, arriving around 1:30, and shortly thereafter KC, Nancy, and their cute and very well-behaved dog "Spence" came into our lives.  What was supposed to be a quick, half hour photo shoot turned into two hours of chat, exchanging news and views, and making a couple of new friends.

If you're traveling 66 and see this bumper sticker on an SUV, stop and get to know KC and Nancy.  They're great!   The video he took of me won't be edited and posted for a while because KC is admittedly a bit behind on the project, and of course they're still on the road and still gathering interviews, but check out his website, GenuineRoute66Life.com to see some of the interviews already posted.  I am going to be honored to be among the fabulous people he's chosen to meet on his Route 66 travels.

Nancy is an interesting person, too.  She has an advertising and design company in Denver, and she is responsible for that great new logo on Blue Swallow Motel shirts and mugs.  I think I want to hire her to design a new logo for Afton Station, too.  barlowadvertising.com

Well, back to Afton today and Sunday.  With some apparently severe weather in the forecast, it might turn into a very interesting weekend!

Dale's Gang

A certainty at Afton Station is that Dale Butel and his group of Route 66 tourists will visit us at least three times a  year.   Our favorite Aussie tour guide never fails to bring with him a great group of folks who really seem to appreciate Route 66 and our little museum.  Today, Dale and 39 fine Australian citizens arrived in the usual big number of rented Mustangs plus several other cars and one motorcycle.  They swarmed all over, signed our wall, bought lots of items (particularly t-shirts and flags) and were smiling and cordial as usual.   Clearly, Dale gives a great tour because those who travel with him always seem so happy and contented.

Betty came and helped out at the counter.

And here I am with Dale.

Of course as usual Ron M. was a big help, and the reason he doesn't appear in any of these photos is because he took them!

We had other visitors too, on this off-and-on rainy, gloomy day.  These two men met at the Station having only seen each other once since high school in 1962.   Spencer, on the right, had a 1955 Packard as his first car, so he was especially interested in our collection.  When they left the Station they headed off to spend the day together at Bill's (on left) house on Grand Lake.  What a nice reunion!

This couple came from Bartlesville, Oklahoma and were accompanied by adorable siblings Ike and Lola.  How cute.  

Others came from Benson MO, Wichita KS, Web City MO, Mound City KS, and Sydney, Australia.  I will be driving back up to Afton tomorrow afternoon to meet with a gentleman who is traveling Route 66 and interviewing business owners.   It's turning into a very busy week!

Got Milk? How About Eggs?

These folks who live along Route 66 between Vinita and Afton do!  Their chickens appear to live along the road - literally.  Although they're dangerously close to traffic out there every day, so far I've only seen one dead hen in the road.  Do you suppose they're trained to look both ways before crossing?   And while we're on the subject, why DO chickens cross the road?  These must go somewhere to lay the eggs that the folks are selling because I've never seen any eggs in the grass.  Just a little touch of casual farming on old Route 66.  

(Photo courtesy of Mike Rose, the nice man who visited us last week on his cross-country bike ride.  You can see other photos he took of Afton and Afton Station at:  www.travelsoframblingroses.blogspot.com)

Easter "HOP"penings

A very Happy Easter to all.  At Afton Station, we celebrated by being open, something that many of our visitors told us was not true of most other places along Route 66.  I'm a strong believer that everyone should take time off for family and other important occasions, so I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with taking a holiday Sunday off.  Other than coloring a few eggs (this year, after cooking and removing the shells), I don't do much for Easter, so I'm more than happy to remain open to visit with those who are away from home over the weekend.

Ron M. and I thought it was only right that we dress for the occasion, and so we dug through the big box of costuming stuff in the back room and this is the best we could come up with.  (One of Ron's bunny ears is broken and flopping!)  Aren't we adorable?  No wonder we had no crowds today!

Our 15 visitors came from Omaha NE, Sydney Australia, Bentonville AR, Canton MS, and Miami and Grove, OK.   Here are our Aussie visitors du jour, a very nice couple from Sydney.

The Easter flowers given to me by Betty are still going strong.  So pretty!   Betty stopped by today after church and had a chance to taste that awesome blackberry pie that Ron brought yesterday.  Marly also stopped in for a while and took the last piece.  Boo hoo!

We met this very orange gentleman on the way to Afton this morning.  He was guarding the highway maintenance yard in Claremore.   With the number of orange cones and cans on the roads of Oklahoma, he must feel very at home.  The other day, someone described orange cones as "the state flower of Oklahoma".