-------------- Original message ---------------------- From: "Bill Mixon" <billmi...@worldnet.att.net> > I first met Jim Hixson at some Indiana Cave Capers back in the > 1960s................... > an old Chevy sedan,
THAT WAS "BEASTIE". Black. Godzillion miles. And, if we get started, there are an equal number of Hixson stories. He was a definite character and has been in very ill health for quite some time. "Henry", new and unblemished, showed up at the first Huntsville convention in 1967. Jim had the bed lined with a piece of 10-mil poly he had liberated from the mine where he worked. We filled it with water at a truck stop owned and run by women. The women's rest room was the one inside. They were reluctant to let us run the hose until Sandy Deal convinced them it would work. Sandy and Jim drove Henry and the Porta-Pool around the campground, the rest of us riding in it and throwing unsuspecting folks in. All went well until Squire Lewis was tossed in, when the water turned black. He hadn't washed his feet for a Loooong time. Remember his dog, Linda? The Anvil Cave rally at that convention was won by a team of 6 - 3 dogs (Linda, Woola, and C. Thumb) and 3 people (Jim, Sandy, and myself). Other competors complained that the dogs kept running around and confusing them. Sower grapes. They just did not know how to read maps very well. At the time, both C. Thumb and Linda were NSS members complete with FD numbers. We camped at his house after the convention, and Beastie was undergoing yet another transplant and had 3 spare transmissions in the back seat. Another claim to fame was Jim initiating the first speleoralley at Blacksburg. The resulting ruin of family vehicles needed for cross-country return to home caused Ken Laidlaw to initiate the rules for a less destructive version at White Salmon. Children (and cavers) must play. Yes, Jim will be missed by some of us, for sure. DirtDoc --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
