Iron Hide

It was about 3:30 in the morning and I was driving down Highway 402 from Clayton, New Mexico to Nara Visa, New Mexico. I was hauling an empty trailer to Tucumcari, New Mexico. There was nobody else on the road but me and maybe two cars that passed me. I began to hear a lot of static on my CB. Then I heard a voice say "Breaker 1-9" which means that he would like to talk. I told him to go ahead. He told me his handle was Iron Hide and he was hauling a load of cattle down to Amorillo. We talked about driving trucks and how business was going and normal stuff. Then about an hour later he said that he had to make a turn onto highway 54 going north. Ill never forget what he said next and I hate it that I didn't catch it then but he said, "I used to love driving down this road. Be careful on it and God bless you son."

I got to Nara Visa about 5 minutes later and I stopped at The Annex Bar and Grill off of Highway 54 south of Nara Visa. There was an old truck driver sitting at the bar and we began to make small talk. I happened to ask him if he had ever heard of Iron Hide and he told me that they used to talk on the CB because they both used to haul on highway 402. He also told me that he was killed in an accident on that highway about ten years ago. That's when I told the old man that I just got off the radio with him. Bottom line is I talked to a ghost on the CB.

I'm not sure if he was talking to me to protect me and keep me awake or what but Ill never forget that conversation that I had with Iron Hide.