The Story of the Maniacal Double Tow-er.

We had just started our journey northwest to the land of cooler weather and smaller mosquitoes. Anticipation filled the air. The entire family was speaking nicely to each other and happily handing things over the seats to each other with a smile and a ‘thank you’.

The possibilities were endless; would we see deer, would we happen upon a bear, would D get Tricia to drive while towing the RV? Many unanswered questions loomed.

The drive through west Texas seemed endless, I am sure that is where the author of the song ‘don’t fence me in’ was standing as he penned the famous words ‘give me land lots of land with the starry skies above…don’t fence me in’. I heard it said while we were near Amarillo, ‘nowhere can you look farther and see less than in the Panhandle’ I have to tell you, there is some serious truth to that statement.

As we drove on and on and on we began to grow numb to the speed and traffic. There were many, like us, towing RV’s and heading north to the land of mountain breezes, and cold, fast flowing streams. We got used to seeing those with diesel trucks fly past us and our little V8 engine.

We began to notice a rare breed of RV’er; The Double Tow-er. These are the ones brave enough to try to tow two things at once. The set up was like this; one huge diesel truck pulling a 5th wheel, pulling another trailer, often a boat trailer or a trailer carrying 4 wheelers or motorbikes.



It was just such a set up we came across outside of Amarillo. We were in a turn in the highway where there was a bit of a dip as well. We were on the inside lane passing the double tow-er when he began to loose control of his rig. He first swung to the outside, but, as any good tow-er knows, what goes out must come in. As soon as D saw him sway to the outside he hit his brakes. But we did not have enough clearance. As he swung wildly back to the inside, D hit the breaks as hard as he could while swerving into the shoulder to avoid being hit by what has become known as The Maniacal Double Tow-er.

He then realized that if he went too much into the shoulder we would flip. There was very little shoulder before the long slide to the bottom of the ditch.

As D tried to steady our rig on the shoulder, the Maniacal Double Tow-er swung passed our bumper missing us by inches.

Needless to say, everyone in the car was screaming, and D was white.

Once the vehicles and hearts of those contained therein were back to normal, we began to pass the Maniacal Double Tow-er. He had slowed considerably, and had both hands on the wheel looking straight ahead. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man look more afraid…except maybe D.

Interestingly enough, D never once during the entire trip, asked me to drive.

What is the moral of this little tale? Beware The Maniacal Double Tow-er!