Busted

I guess it had to happen eventually: I got my first speeding ticket of the trip. Soon after I'd crossed over the state line from Oregon into Washington, I began to see State Troopers lying patiently in wait for speeding tourists coming up the coast. I passed two of them on 101 going fast enough to warrant getting pulled over, but not that fast (let's just say my riding was spirited). After a few more miles, I was pretty much alone on 101 and my riding got even more lively. I even began thinking to myself I guess the State Troopers all hang out right down by the border to nab unsuspecting tourists. But I bet I'm pretty safe around here...

Oopsie.

He had me fair and square. He was driving southbound on 101 and flipped his rack on before he'd even passed me. When I looked in my rearview mirror and saw him turning around, I just put on my blinker and coasted to a stop on the side of the road. He pulled in behind me and I just waited, hands visible at all times, niiice and easy, Mr. Law.

He came up to me and said "You freakin' dumb ass. You don't even make it a challenge. That was like shooting fish in a barrel. And next time, try and post a respectable speed, ok? If you're gonna go fast enough to make me pull your dumb ass over, don't be such a pussy about it. Let's see some triple digits or I'm gonna say you tried to run away - hehehe...."

Well, it was either that or maybe he just said "License and registration."

Once he returned to the car with my docs, I knew that was that and my streak was over. I guess one ticket every 6000 miles or so isn't so bad (and that's just on this trip - I'd probably gone 40K miles without getting one). I'm gonna try damn hard not to get caught on the rest of the trip - my insurance company isn't that forgiving after all.