Thoughts on Another Two-Hour Day at Afton Station

Yesterday, Ron M. and I took a little ride up to Afton Station just so I could check up on things and add up my February sales (that took 30 seconds) so I will be able to compute my state Sales Tax today.  I haven't started that yet.  If I had, you'd find me in a grumpy mood.   The Oklahoma Sales Tax Commission is a division of Hell, in my opinion.  If I had already confronted that monthly hellishness, I'd be very grumpy by now.  In order to pay my paltry tax each month -- and I do mean paltry, especially in the winter -- I can expect to spend over an hour deciphering the most recent changes in the forms, changes which happen almost every month.  There is someone at the Tax Commission who I'm sure giggles with glee each time he/she manages to complicate the forms just a little bit more.

But I digress....    Sorry for the little rant.

So anyway, we went up to Afton Station and hung out for just a little while, didn't even turn on any lights or hang out any "Open" signs, and we still had a couple of visitors.  One was a very friendly trucker from Missouri who had passed by before but never had time to stop.  We were happy to open up the showrooms and briefly turn on the lights.  The other was a local guy who stopped in to ask for directions and looked around a little   Also, our friend Scott dropped in and I had him take 5 big bags of trash to the dump, an accumulation from all winter.

It's snowing and cold today, so I'm staying home.  With predictions of a couple of more weeks of cold, wintery weather, I'm now considering staying closed for another two weeks.  I do have some wonderful tour groups scheduled for this spring and summer, so I'm feeling a great season coming on.

GREAT NEWS FROM THE CZECH REPUBLIC

This just in from the Czech Route 66 Association.... They held their convention in February, and here's the report.  Wow, 170 Czech citizens care enough about Route 66 to attend the meeting.  That is impressive, and it shows how Route 66 is gaining in interest all over the world.   And now, the Czechs are planning a film project, a further step in creating European interest in the Mother Road!

Dear Route 66 friendsI’d like to give you a short information about the 7th Czech Route 66 Associaton Convention.The seventh Czech Route 66 Association Convention was held on Feb. 15 in a beautiful area of the Western-Theme Park in BOSKOVICE. More than 170 Route 66 fans from the Czech and Slovak Republics met together to celebrate Route 66 – the Mother Road. All tickets were sold out in advance!Zdenek Jurasek, a president of the Czech Route 66 Association (CAR66), reported association’s activities of the last year and presented all main plans for 2014.The most significant challenge of this year is definitely creating of a new Czech Route 66 feature film (May 19 - June 3).We would like to visit particular and specific places along Route 66 which are normally hidden from tourists and sometimes even completely inaccessible to the public.Secondly, through the movie we would like to answer questions the participants often asked while traveling along Route 66.And thirdly, creators of the film project intend to present Route 66 as a place where you can experience a lot of fun. We would like to initiate some original “action” - a happening, with active participation of both the Czech-Slovak expedition and the local public, supported by the local media.We informed Route 66 people, associations and organizations throughout the U.S.A. about our filming plans and asked them for cooperation and support.It is exciting how strong and positive response we have received! We are sure that this movie will become the most benefical achievement which will bring the American legend closer to the European audience - closer than ever before!Centerpiece of the evening was the Czech Route 66 Association Award which obtained Mr. ZDENEK STOJAN. Zdenek was awarded for his significant contribution in spreading a name of the world’s famous road in our country. After his return from the Route 66 trip organized by the Czech Route 66 Association in 2009 he became its active member. Later he established a popularROUTE 66 RESTAURANT in CECHY U PREROVA dedicated to the Mother Road. His property became a sought-after tourist spot not only among Route 66 fans in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.I am sure that the 7th Czech Route 66 Association Convention was very successful and I hope that this success will improve a popularity of Route 66 in our country.Zdenek Jurasek, presidentCzech Route 66 Association

As you may recall, I'm trying to pay visits to each of the historically all-black towns in the state of Oklahoma.  In yesterday's Tulsa newspaper, one of them which I haven't visited, Clearview, was featured in a front page article.  At the time of Oklahoma statehood in 1907, the population of Clearview was 618. Today it is 53.  A spark of life is returning to the town, however, thanks to a gentleman and his wife who moved there recently and started an interesting project.  Check it out here...

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/education/hall-of-fame-for-black-educators-breathes-new-life-into/article_02905b8d-5f67-5349-aacf-498a7b0e8acb.html

When I pay a visit to Clearview myself (possibly this week), I'll have more about this interesting town.  For now, it's tax time!   Growl!