The Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader has an interesting article about the other side of the idyllic existance that bed-and-breakfasts convey.

Co-owner Michaelene Stevens of the Dickey House, which is in the Route 66 town in Marshfield, Mo., were candid enough to tell the newspaper that running such a lodging business is a lot of hard work.

“They always look at you with their rose-colored glasses and say, ‘Oh, it must be so nice to sit here and chat with your guests every morning.’ And I think, ‘Yeah, but you forget I’ve been up for the past two hours cooking,’ ” Stevens says. [...]

“The 24/7 nature of it was the biggest shocker,” says Michaelene Stevens. “You’re really tied to your guests. You miss birthday parties, Christmas, all kinds of things. And if you don’t, you turn rooms away, which is revenue.”

Then there’s the fact that innkeepers not only have to cook the breakfast, but they also have to look presentable as they serve it. And they can’t just serve a glob of scrambled eggs; the food has to look presentable too. Toilets have to be cleaned, rooms vacuumed, sheets washed, Web sites maintained. Once that’s done, owners have to be ready and smiling to welcome the next batch of guests.

But Stevens saw a bright side to the business, too.

Stevens agrees and mentioned, among others, an Irish man who stayed at the Dickey House as he explored Historic Route 66.

“It’s wonderful having these people drop into your life,” she says.

Looks like Route 66 is the only way west for Tulsans heading for OKC this morning. TV station KSWO out of southwestern Oklahoma is reporting that I-44 is closed between Oklahoma’s two largest cities after a snowstorm dumped more than 10 inches of snow on Tulsa.

The storm brought an influx of business to one Route 66 business in Tulsa. According to an AP story on KRTK-TV’s Web site, Swinney’s Hardware, at Second Street and Lewis Avenue, on the original alignment of 66 in Tulsa, saw high demand for winter gear:

In Tulsa, Okla., customers raided hardware and convenience stores for storm supplies because of 6 inches of snow in the forecast.

“It’s shovels, ice melts and sleds, and forget the rest,” said John Swinney, manager at Swinney’s Hardware. “It’s about the biggest one that’s hit here in a long time.”

Elsewhere on the Mother Road, Amarillo got seven inches of snow, according to a Houston Chronicle article, while I-40 was closed Wednesday for five hours because of accidents and jackknifed tractor-trailers between Tucumcari and Moriarty, reports Albuquerque’s TV station KRQE. The station reported Wednesday that eastbound I-40 traffic was diverted to U.S. 285 at Clines Corners, and authorities began stopping westbound traffic at the west side of Tucumcari because an influx of stranded travelers was straining Santa Rosa’s services.

The Gallup Independent reports that Milan, N.M., saw four inches of snow, and high winds and cold temperatures accompanied the snow in Grants. Icy road conditions and forecasts calling for subzero temperatures prompted school cancellations in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, and the State District Court and Santa Fe County Magistrate Court also closed Thursday, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports. Farther west, Flagstaff had an inch of snow and lows below zero, according to an Arizona Republic article.

To the east, a motorist on I-44 near Rolla was killed when a tractor-trailer jackknifed and skidded into his car as he was standing near it, according to a report from KNBC-TV out of Los Angeles.

According to an AP report on Los Angeles-based KABC-TV’s Web site, freezing rain and sleet left 15,000 customers without power in Springfield, Mo., while St. Louis’ Lambert Airport was canceling most flights Thursday night, and O’Hare International Airport in Chicago canceled more than 400 flights for today after forecasters predicted a nasty morning. A meteorologist from Romeoville, Ill., had this to say:

“It looks like it’s going to get messy,” said Tim Halbach, a meteorologist in the Chicago suburb of Romeoville. “There could be times where some areas see 2 inches of snow per hour.”

The weather was so bad last night in Tulsa that the World put the copy desk (including Ron) up in rooms at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, just around the corner from the downtown office; Ron reported two-foot-high snowdrifts around his car.

Here in Red Fork, the snow in the driveway is almost up to my bumper, but one of my reporters has already made it in to the office, so I guess I’ll scrap my telecommuting plans, suck it up, and try to make it in. I’ll take the camera along. If I can get out of the driveway, it’ll be a beautiful day for photos.

– the Red Fork Hippie Chick