When I look on this frozen piece of super slab also known as old U.S.-30 through Hazzard and into Twin Falls County, I remember all too much of my own history. As much as the Dukes effected me as a youth long before anything Hazzard ever became a part of my future, I saw myself behind the wheel of 18 wheels logging miles on what now is a highway only of many dreams. As early as 15 years old I harbored visions of being a long haul snuff chewing , coffee drinking trucker. A dream job, seeing the nation through a windshield and delivering the goods. But I had a battle of the mind, whether I truly wanted to wear a badge and go into law enforcement as a crime scene investigator or drive a rig. I just loved all the lights, radios and gizmos that the cops had in their rides. Then there was that romantic hour which seemed to last eons yet only a mere 60 minutes, when wanting to go chase puntain, had to move a cousins toew truck, so I could get my hot rod out of her driveway. The sky opened up, the sun shone in on a white light and the stillness was one of a truly magic moment. Here was my answer. Driving and owning a toew truck, would let me goof with all the gadgets that the cops had. Work with the cops but not for the cops, and yet drive a truck. Of course it was a baby truck , but a commercial truck none the less. For years after all I dreamed of was a toew truck. Mom & Dad, was not so sure. Their requirement? Go work for someone with a toew truck and we’ll see. I worked with two of the best the tragic valley had . John W Nausbaum of Johnny’s Towing of Twin Falls, and Valley Towing & Radiator, also of Twin Falls. That’s where I met her. Little did I know she and I would be together for life.
But that’s getting ahead of ourselves here.
Of course, the first ever released on TV, trucker series was Movin On , but that got boring fast. But then came Greg Evigan and all those hot honeys in trucks and the series B.J. & The Bear. What was really groovy was the fact was that B.J. ‘ s COE Kenworth was the same colors that DixieBelle originally wore. Might have been good to have left her that color. But a new real to life trucker feature film came out, that changed that idea. The movie was the film dramatization of CW McCall’s hit single Convoy. With a slightly spiced up set of lyrics. The most noticeable difference was the fact that the featured rig was not that of a Peterbilt or Kenworth, but a big black Mack R700L. The rig was beautiful and the character was as anti establishment as I was and still am. So I said every other toew truck is red(at the time back in the day) and I should and wanted to be different. So DixieBelle became black. Of course, the name on the rig on RD’s truck said R D(Rubber Duck) Trucking. So one of the first handles I took to light the candle to go toewing was the initials of my then CB handle, Diesel Kid or D.K. Towing. Things might have went better for me if I had stuck to that, but then the Heavy Hooker thing took over, and ya’ll know that history.
But as much as that all changed over the years, being behind the wheel of DixieBelle has been the chosen career I took. And except on a few occasions never looked back or thought twice about it. Until now.
It’s been said that with age, comes wisdom. I don’t know about that, but dreams and aspirations change. By 1994 I found myself married with two adopted teens from her prior marriage. While the Montgomery Foundation Trust sufficed for income we as a family needed more income. My cousin Gordon Sant, through a loan from Mom through his Dad, my Uncle Harrold, bought some rather used biplanes and was into doing crop dusting heavy. His hangar provided shelter and a place to keep DixieBelle in tune, and yet opened my eyes to agricultural aviation. In 1998 I reupped into the Marines, to help pay bills. Major bills. Did a short reserve stint until mid 2000. Discharged and stupidly bought into some bullshit of some sex pot waitress that worked here in Buhl, who owned a house in Goons Ferry Idaho. So moved into the mouse ridden filth nearly falling down not much better than a two story lean too. But I loved to fly. And I still love to fly. It wasn’t until mid 2004 living in Utah with cousin Bud that I found how much. With the first breath of a ongoing recovery of the Montgomery Foundation Trust, Cousin Bud, invested money into Gordon’s operation with some of my own conditions, one I own part of it and two; it got a name I thought was required. The last was we really get rotor craft involved. So an insurance client of Cousin Bud’s had hangar space at Bountiful SkyPark, with $600K and one helluva lot of paperwork. in mid 2005, AyreWolf Aviation really took flight and AyreWolf Aviation became a saving grace. It wasn’t until I stupidly again moved to Goons Ferry, after suffering humiliation and stress over the bullshit of some damn little fartknocker bikini bouncer in Pocatello and thinking that I might get a job at a proposed but never gaining altitude Nuke power plant in Hammett, that I got fatter and out of shape to the point that at my renewal for my GA Recertification that my physical I took, doctor said nope. I have to loose 96 pounds. In essence got grounded. But who was waiting? DixieBelle.
The story about the evolution of DixieBelle, next edition.
L8R
Quote of the day:
It's a poor sort of memory that only works backward. - Lewis Carroll
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