12,000 Miles and My First Encounter with the Police…

I’ve driven over 12,000 miles now on the Avenger of Sexiness North America Tour, and I finally have had an encounter with the police.

Considering the speed I drove through Idaho the last time I was here, it was only fitting that it was in Idaho that a cop pulled me over.

(I was born with a lead foot, and the long stretches of interstate in Southern Idaho were conducive for speeding. I swear, it wasn’t my fault that I was going 90+ in a 75 mile per hour zone that time.)

Yesterday, after I dropped Mike off at the airport so he could fly back to Houston, a cop followed me out of the airport parking lot. He drove behind me down the road leading out of the airport. Eventually, we both made a left turn, and after a few blocks he flipped his lights on.

What the hell? I *knew* I wasn’t speeding. I had my license in my pocket, so I pulled that out and waited. As soon as he walked up, I handed it to him as I smiled and said hello. He looked at my Texas drivers license with a little confusion. Then he asked to see my plate registration papers.

We don’t have plate registration papers in Texas. Just the plate, and the sticker on the window. So I explained that to him.

He got an even more confused look, and walked back to the back of my car. Then he came back and apologized.

Seems that from his angle in the SUV, the “TEXAS” on my my plate looked like “IDAHO”. I can see that, the bottom of the T being an I, the bottom of the E being a D, the X and the A, the A and the H, and the S and the O — if you cut them in half, they all look like the other letter. So he thought I had some sort of odd, made up fake plate on my car. He said he had never seen an Idaho plate that looked like mine.

I like to think that what he really meant was that he had never seen a license plate that was SO AWESOME. But being a policeman, he couldn’t say that.

He thanked me for my time & understanding, and sent me on my way.

Let’s just hope he isn’t around as I cross Idaho and head west. I might just be speeding again. After all, my plate *does* say WHEEEE! I can’t help it!