This story starts in Twin falls Idaho in 1976.
Upon a visit to my cousin Judy’s a friend of her then husband Rod, was Steve Crossley, who as it turned out owned Steve’s Texaco and of course Steve’s Towing of Ogden Utah.
Up until that time, my profession of choice was flying Air Med or something similar. However my life changed dramatically on that day in Ogden Utah. I wanted to go see a high school girl friend and pal around with some of my Layton Lancer football team friends, not to mention the Street Commanders which was part of the early beginnings of what we all have now as the Knytes-of-Anarchy, but that’s getting off point.
So to get out of Judy’s drive way , Steve's 75 Dodge Tow truck had to be moved. Steve was too busy partying so he threw me the key and said go ahead and move it.
What happened next is very hard to describe, and I suppose nobody else saw it as it was a point of Heavenly discovery, but the very second I climbed in that old Dodge Tow Truck, the outside of the truck was nothing but a pure purple blue, the inside pure white, and a hand came upon my shoulder and a voice told me this would be what I would do as my primary profession for the rest of my life.
For nearly two years I trained under the watchful eye of two of the best in the business. John Nausbaum, of Johnny’s Towing Twin Falls, and Tommy Thompson of TNT Towing of Boise. Both taught me so much about how to hook up, recover, and tow. They taught me about the business side, and both got me into TRAA. But then I needed a truck and service territory.
It was one of those early crisp fall mornings in Twin Falls, when at what used to be a Sambos Pancake house Restaurant, that I first saw her. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Oh I knew of her from Dave’s Conoco(Mr. GAS now) on Blue Lakes Blvd, but I never had taken in her majesty nor beauty before. She sat there just as dawn was peeking over the eastern horizon, her cab and marker lights cutting through the misty early morning fog, her pipes with the smokey gray vapor oh she was just a sexy as as any human female could ever be, little did I know that she and I would be together for life.
So I followed Dave her then owner of only a year, to his radiator shop on South Park in Twin Falls. yes Valley Towing and Radiator the best place to take a leak.
A deal was made between Mom, and Dave, I’d work there, wages would be applied to the purchase in turn I’d run with driver Ray Dyer and learn how to use her.
In April 1978, about two weeks after my Dad had passed away, and with a little friction between Mom and I , the day had come. Mom thought I needed another year at working for Dave, but the loss of Dad was such that Mom thought the truck would fill that space at least partly.
$8,000.00 later, lettering taken off ready for mine, and 35 miles to Hazzard, and the rig was on her way home with me.
I love that truck, I slept in her that first night, I ate my meals in that truck and I think if I could have mated with that truck I would have done and still would today.
From the recovery of Evil Knevil’s flying rocket bike, to a 5 ton with 80 bags of spuds that truck never has let me down always got the job done.
But what to call my company, I fiddled around with several names, but one day I was walking up the long road from the house to the mailbox, I was thumbing through my latest issue of the old Overdrive that had in it, the Tow Truck of the month. As I always do , took the magazine to the head, and saw in there the Tow Truck of the month, the trucks name was the Happy Hooker. It wasn’t long after one of Tommy’s promotional gigs that had the tag on a T shirt that read our Hookers Handle All Sizes, that combination, decided the base name for my tow company, Highway Hooker Toewing.
A few years later of course the General Lee got into my hands and the relationship of all things Hazzard and Dukes started.
But dear old Lexi had not yet been named . To make this a bit short, I had moved to Blackfoot, Idaho doing well towing and all, and there was this really hot, car hop at what is Rupe’s Burgers there , her name was Alexis or Lexi for short.
One night in my truck, before the bucket seats were installed, behind the Albertson’s food store there, Alexis and I christened the truck, and the truck has been Lexi ever since. The Belle part is part of the name of Greg(Pappy) Boyington who in WWII assembled what many today know as the VMF214 BlackSheep, that I also had the privilege of serving in under the reformed squadron the VMA214 BlackSheep.
Today with nearly 1,million, 600,000 miles LexiBelle still lives, and serves me daily. Although she has seen better days looks wise and is in need of a serious make over, LexiBelle>
LexiBelle and I have seen white out snows, steep grades so icy many could not travel on, even Mom’s funeral. I have owned 10 different smaller vehicles in my life, but LexiBelle has always been there. Dig this, one engine, one rear end, one set of replacement shocks, and one PTO cable. Not bad for a rig with LexiBelle’s mileage and age.
And that’s the story of LexiBelle.
The one thing though I have always wanted though and I’m still trying to find a artist who paints etc to do it, is a painted portrait of LexiBelle.
Future plans?
That in an upcoming article, stay toewing.
L8R Ya’ll
Quote of the Day:
Every man alone is sincere. At the entrance of a second person, hypocrisy begins.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
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