Lights out

We moved to Fairbanks Alaska for one summer. Drove up right after spring breakup and came home just before freeze for winter.  We had an old Ford pickup utility box pickup that used to belong to the light company and was a ladder truck. It was a heavy, touch old pickup, kind of a medium gray.

While we left we bought a bumper sticker that read “Winding in and winding out leaves my mind to serious doubt: of weather the man that built this road was going to hell or coming out” and one that read “we drove the Alaska Highway, yes dammit both ways”

When we got back into Oregon we cleaned off a spot on the bumper and put them both on and headed to Coos Bay, Oregon.  The back of the pickup which was loaded like the Beverly Hill Billy’s and covered with a tarp.  The only place clean on that pickup was the bumper stickers.

When we got to Coos Bay a police officer pulled us over. (my ex had a habit of when he was going to lie to an officer he got out because my face gave it away and if he did not know why they stopped him he stayed in the vehicle)  A state police officer walked up to the window and said “sir you don’t have any lights on the back of this pickup and it is really hard to see.” My husband walked to the back of the pickup and hit it a few times and the lights came on, he said it must have a short from all the gravel roads something has worked loose.  The State Police officer said “I see where you went to Alaska, I have always wanted to do that.  They stood out there and swapped some hunting stories and talked about Alaska and by then the lights went out again. The police officer being nice followed us to our friend’s house we were going to stay with and then went on his way.

We found a house to rent and started moving things into our house and running around to garage sales to find things as we had sold almost everything we owned when we moved to Alaska and the trailer and the rest of the stuff when we came home.  So, needless to say this was a very busy time in our life and you know who did not ever do anything about the lights.

Another couple of weeks passed and we were over visiting our friends and were headed home again when, sure enough red lights to the rear, a police officer was pulling us over. My husband jumped out of the pickup, which we still had not washed and started telling this officer the same story about coming home from Alaska. I mean after all it worked the first time.  Meanwhile, I was frantically trying to get my husbands attention because I recognized the officer as being the same one that had stopped him before. I must admit I was really impressed with the officer. He stood right there and listened to the whole story again and then very politely pulled out his ticket book and said “it must be that time of the year, I stopped a guy in a pickup like this a couple of weeks ago with the same story of just coming home from Alaska” as he wrote the ticket and my husband turned bright red.

You would think that was the end of the story with the lights, right?  Nope, about 3 years later we were coming home from Bend in the same pickup and a state police officer pulled us over. He walked up to the pickup and said “sir, I stopped you because you don’t have any lights on this pickup and it is hard to see.” My husband said “when did you move up here from Coos Bay?”  The officer said “what did I give you a ticket in Coos Bay?”  My husband said “well not the first time but you did the second time and for your information I did get those lights fixed.” The officer looked again at the pickup and the worn out Alaska bumper stickers and started laughing his head off.  The officer said “oh my goodness, I remember you now, I have told that story many times over the years” 

He did not give us a ticket, my husband fixed the lights and we always waved when we saw each other.