The Ballad of the Bum Trip - Part Three, Being Haystack

The next stop on our adventure was somewhere in Pennsylvania. All the way there, people were passing us on the road, pointing at Albert's head sticking out of our back window. You could see them mouth the word "Alligator!" It was great fun!

When we got about 2/3 across PA, we stopped at a rest area along the highway for lunch. Larry, at that point in his life with his big beard, looked a lot like a popular pro wrestler of the time, named Haystack Calhoon - a fact that did not go unnoticed by a busboy cleaning a table nearby.

After a few minutes, he came over and asked, "Aren't you Haystack?" Larry said he wasn't. The young man turned away. You could see he was crestfallen (it was a family crest - crossed knives and forks on a field of SOS pads with suds.) I went after him and told him that Haystack didn't want anyone to know we were in town. So we went back to the table and he got his autograph.

Well, we finished up our food and left a big tip, paid our bill, and drove off. There were lots of faces at the window of the restaurant and to this day I'll bet that young man (he's in his early 50's now) is telling people about the day Haystack Calhoon came to town in an old Buick with an alligator in the back seat (and what the hell - he has an autograph to prove it!)

- Adam Jones
9-23-07