June 12, 2004

Oklahoma

Oklahoma:  On Friday evening, I enjoyed driving the Will Rogers Highway across the northeastern part of Oklahoma, called Green Country. I drove through Commerce, OK, Mickey Mantle's hometown. Now what if, as a baseball player, he hadn't been interested in doing better? Talk about elevating the game to a new level! Fuel-efficient technology does that, too.

The Tulsa Route 66 International Festival was my destination for Saturday, June 12. It proved to be a long, busy, and productive day. And warm. I learned that "hot" applies only to temps over 100 degrees, and it was only 93. People from all over the country had come to the Tulsa Festival to relive Route 66 history, hear live music, see Will Rogers rope tricks, and chow down on festival food. Many were drawn by the sight of a decidedly
modern hybrid vehicle parked by the antique jalopies. Even more curious when some of the cast of Oklahoma! came over and posed with the car!

Local Sierra Club volunteers Merritt Ford and Beverly Wells did a superb job of talking to folks, getting postcards signed, and selling t-shirts. "But where do you plug it in?" was a frequent question, so the hybrid fact-sheet handouts went fast. Most were happy to sign postcards telling the Bush administration that hey, it's high time we evolved to clean energy solutions like this. Right there in Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain...

-- Jill Miller