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Monday, June 27, 2011

Blue Light Special

There are no pictures with this blog, but Scott said I had to blog about it since I blogged about his experience with Hairy Armpit Lady.  That still cracks me up! 

After our day at Grand Canyon, we got back to the van and began our drive to just north of Phoenix.  A little ways down the interstate, we noticed a sign that said “Sedona.”  Scott’s dad had mentioned that would be something we might want to see, so we decided to detour off of the interstate to see if we could make it before sunset.  It was a drive down into a canyon, steep hill, winding curves, but some incredibly beautiful scenery.  We made it in time to see a few beautiful formations before sunset, but it was too dark to get pictures.  We drove on through the little town and decided to grab a quick bite to eat at Wendy’s.

When we finished eating, I told Scott I was fine to continue driving.  Starting off, there were about five roundabouts within about two miles on the road leading out of Sedona, and it was a little bit confusing.  It was dark, the roads were unfamiliar, and I was driving.  About three miles down the road, going down a steep part of the mountain, I passed an SUV sitting on the side of the road facing up the hill towards me.  You guessed it!  As soon as I got almost even with it, headlights popped on, and he pulled out behind me.  Scott said, “Oh, crap!”  I said, “Oh, crap!” I had no idea what the speed limit was, which made me furious because until that point I had been on constant lookout for the speed limit signs and had spent most of the time on cruise control.  About the time I passed him, I saw the 45 mph sign.  Since he didn’t have his blue lights flashing yet, I immediately flipped on the cruise control set at 45.  Maybe he would change his mind!

Fat chance!  It took him about a mile to get his blue lights flashing behind me.  I pulled over… right in front of a speed limit sign that said 55 mph.  Really!?!?!  The policeman came up to my window, and he looked like he was about 16 years old.  He asked for my license and registration, so I gave him my license while Scott scrounged through the glove box for the registration.  Took him forever to find the one that wasn’t expired, since I never throw those things away, just keep adding them to the glove box.  So while Scott was sorting through expired registrations, I turned to the “kid” and said, “Are you going to give me a ticket?”  Might as well get that little detail out of the way instead of suffering in anticipation while he goes back to his blue light SUV to call in my license information.  His response, “No.”  I could have kissed him.  And I think Scott might have been okay with it.  Then he said, “Do you know the speed limit was 35 back before it was 45, and I clocked you going 55?”  My response, “Are you serious?”  Could I have been more stupid?  So then I started doing some nervous babbling about how we had come from the Grand Canyon and decided to detour through Sedona and had just left Wendy’s on our way to Phoenix and I hadn’t seen a speed limit sign yet… blah, blah, blah.

His next question, which I have never been asked before when I’ve been pulled over (which has only been three times before in 25 years, but still…), “Do you have any weapons?”  Okay, long story short, Scott got me a handgun for Christmas in anticipation of taking this cross-country road trip so we would have a gun to take along.  We both took a concealed carry class, applied for a concealed carry permit, but the permits didn’t arrive before we left.  So, once again, I did some nervous babbling… “uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, yes… I have a pistol.”  A pistol?  I’m such a goober!  He then said, “Where is it?”  I said, “In the back.”  He said, “Okay.  I’ll be right back, going to call this in.”  So at that point I’m thinking I’m not getting a ticket for going 20 mph over the speed limit, which I assume is considered reckless driving, but I’m going to jail for having a concealed handgun!  I started praying really hard!

After what seemed like forever, he came back and said, “Verbal warning this time.  Have a safe trip.”  Hallelujah!  I almost cried.  After gushing our gratitude (to the policeman and to God!), I pulled back onto the highway, set us on cruise control, and drove away.  Scott said, “You should have let me drive.”  Then he said, “Although, he probably would have given me a ticket.”  We’ve been on this trip for two weeks, and that was the first (and last) time I haven’t been aware of the speed limit.  Too much excitement for one day!

3 comments:

  1. You should have a temporary form to carry til the real permit comes. I did when I got mine. You were very fortunate he didn't get you for the gun. God really had your back. :D

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  2. No kidding. There was some heavy duty praying going on in my car. After we pulled off, Ash said she was praying the whole time too!

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