I didn’t get any knitting or crocheting done on the trip down. I tried to crochet a little bit, but I messed up the starting chain of the mint green baby blanket and just didn’t feel like sorting it out. David and I did our usual chatting and listening to music. I would love to say we had an uneventful 2nd day of our trip, we got pulled over by a state trooper (think, Buford T. Justice) and we’re not sure why. He said we were going slightly over the speed limit, we had been seeing 75 speed limit signs, we were going between 70-75. He also said that we were following the truck in front of us too closely. We were behind that truck because just as we were going to pass it, we saw the state trooper and got back behind the truck. The trooper pulled up beside us and stared at us for a long while which caused the truck to also slow down and we couldn’t back off any farther than 2 car lengths before he pulled us over. He said we should have been 4 and that if an elephant had run out in front of the truck where would we be?
Seriously? An elephant? We dutifully answered that we would have landed in the trailer of the truck in front of us.
So, we went through all the driver’s license, registration and proof of insurance crap. I couldn’t find the current printed copy, but handed him the old one and explained that USAA doesn’t send them to me, I have to print them and I hadn’t gotten around to it. Of course every answer was met with a rebuttal and disbelief. It really is best to just not say anything.
He separated us and asked us both questions about what we were doing and where we are going.
He told David we were suspicious because we didn’t have a definite return date. He asked us both if we worked, if we were married, if we had jobs and who with. While he had David in his truck, he asked him about drugs and if he knew what THC was. He thought it was odd that we were going down to be supportive of my sister for her divorce and to just visit family. Why, he’d heard of traveling for a wedding, but not for a divorce. He then came and asked me for my proof of insurance, saying that David had told him I could look it up online. I did so while cheerfully and in my best drawl sprinkled liberally with yessirs, answering the many questions he asked me most of them the same that he asked David.
He was fishing for something. I’m sorry we’re such boring people. Maybe he was lonely and just wanted someone to talk to. The event did have the bonus effect of keeping us revved up and wide awake for the last couple hours of our drive into Houston.
I have concluded that the current Texas speed laws go something like this:
Natives: speed limit +10
Plain cars with out of state plates: speed limit + 5
Red cars with out of state plates: speed limit – 1
Office Priest of the East Texas State Troopers? Let’s be careful out there.
Oh, and watch out for elephants.
Sally was skeptical about the elephants.