Nov 25

Written by:
11/25/2008 4:16 AM 

I couldn’t believe it. I really could not believe what I was hearing. “You are under arrest” No way, no how, this could not be happening.

Slowly, but surely I’ve been sloughing off all those responsibilities good upstanding members of society are supposed to maintain. That included things like my Texas vehicle registration and insurance. Why register and buy a six month policy when the vehicle is about to go into long term storage in my parents barn? Sure enough, less than two hours before I was hitting I-45 Northbound out of Texas I got pulled over by a one of the local municipal cops. Turns out his little municipality has a standing law, if you get pulled over without insurance you go to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200, jail.

I started talking pretty quick as soon as he clicked on the cuffs, hands behind my back, standing over the trunk of his cruiser. I ran down the situation as coherently as my over producing adrenal glands would allow me. Somewhere between talking about getting out of state, out of the country, not having people in the area that could post bail, no cash, no phone, I mentioned that I had to make arrangements for the dog if I was going to lock up for some 24 hours. Turns out the officer had a soft spot for dogs.

The cop spent the next five minutes just shooting questions at me to see if the cockeyed story I’d been telling was really the truth or if I was another loon making up any excuse not to go to jail. Eventually he realized I was 100% for real. In the end he wrote me up for the expired registration and told me if I didn’t have an insurance certificate in the next hour I’d be in jail, dog or no dog. I took my citation, went to the boat and printed off a month’s worth of Esurance online, went to the ATM, then headed to the City Hall to pay my fine. The officer tailed me to the ATM and City Hall to make sure I followed through on my end. All in all, this was a great conclusion to a potentially disastrous situation.

Jail averted and driving legally, I am sipping coffee at an old friends house in Dallas. This evening will be spent in Fort Worth with another set of friends. I haven’t road tripped in a long time. There is something about that long ribbon of highway that lets thoughts and memories run just as long. It was past time to take this trip.

Oh yeah, I’ve been playing with my SPOT Tracker. Check out the position map to see what it looks like.

Lee Winters
Phone: (281) 336-0855
Satellite Phone: 8816-316-59853
Web: www.SailingForSOS.com
Email: Lee.Winters@SailingForSOS.com