Howdy

In 1971 my parents packed us up in a GMC "Jimmy" and a 16' camp trailer and started our journey to homestead in Alaska. Along the way we stopped to see Freda and her son Jim who owned the restaurant and gas station in Elk Springs. After making it to Alaska and exploring their options my parents decided to head back to Colorado and look for work.

My dad was a really good mechanic and had also ran his parents parts department at Kings Motor Company in Burlington. But as we were driving through Hayden one morning, he spotted an old fella leaned back in his chair in front of the Texaco Station. He stopped and asked him if he needed any help. He said no, but for eleven grand you could buy the Texaco franchise if you wanted. One day later we began our 50+ year stay in NW Colorado. To this day, my favorite job was selling worms, bagged ice, fishing lures, fueling vehicles and washing windows with my chamois.

One of our favorite customers was Lawrence Murphy, who became a life long friend and mentor. Dad developed a great customer base in both Hayden and Craig as he was becoming known for fair prices & dependable work. On an odd note, Woody the former owner left us the only orange tree in NW Colorado.

In 1974 our family bought a building on Ranney Street in Craig and opened King's Automotive & Off Road Center. My grandfather came for the summer and helped us remodel the store front, while my dad kept working and became known as the "go to guy" for carburetor work. And together with a lot of local back country enthusiasts, started the "Tooley Creepers" off road club. Bruce Johnson led us all over Northwest Colorado. We sponsored mud runs and turned our new but old 71 Blazer we called Jenny into a Beast with a Corvette 427 built by Don Gardner. (Jenny's heartbeat actually began in the Denver Broncos "Pony Express" street rod.) After that she's been throwing mud, spitting blood, plowing snow, burning fuel, climbing rocks, forging the seven river valleys of the tri-state area. She became a legend at least in my mind. Jenny was really our first Mule.

I believe it was 1978 when my parents bought Big A Auto Parts at the corner of Russel street and Victory Way. My mother moonlighted as a flagger for Schmidt & Tiago. They ran the store as a Big A for 18 years until Carquest bought out the franchise. Teaming up with Carquest didn't end so well, but we had become known for selling trailer parts and installing B&W Hitches, so we just adjusted and started selling trailers, trailer parts and truck beds. We also had purchased our new location at 1875 West Victory Way and by then mom had also purchased Airtek Filter & Supply,. Together the two businesses got us back on our feet.

In 2014 Carquest made amends and we started over, as a full service parts store. My wife & I had purchased the parts and repair side of the business from my parents and we named it US Mule Inc. in honor of Jenny, our attitude, and I have always had the nose and ears. Plus we got back to our roots selling bait and tackle. However, soon after we lost our mom, and Carquest now owned by Advanced, decided to go a different direction.

Last year we lost my dad and have transitioned to owning both businesses. Which brings us to today. Still relying on 50 years of respect built by our parents. Still selling and repairing trailers, selling trailer parts, truck beds & Worms.

We have been privy to four booms & busts in NW Colorado. (Remember the quote in the Daily Press, "would the last one to leave Craig turn off the wave pool") And How about the big foot sighting on Black Mountain. Investigated by Dr. Sloof Lirpa. Together along with our customers and friends we have weathered many storms. I've always thought we should make a sit-com about the crazy things that happen while running a parts store. Sometimes you just can't make this ... up. One things for sure, the people we share the valley with are tough, smart, resilient, and very independent. We've been through a lot together, and we wouldn't want it any other way.