Due Date- Monday, September 1st- "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" essay. The time-honored "Back to School" tradition. As always, there is flexibility in this assignment. You may choose to write about any favorite summer vacation. It doesn't have to be this summer.

~ BUSTED IN ARIZONA ~

Most of my blog buddies have read about my trips to Mammoth, Big Sur and Carmel this summer so I thought I'd write about another memorable summer vacation...the summer a couple of years ago when Jeff and I were busted in Arizona! We had been on a two week vacation to Utah, Colorado and Arizona. We were heading back to California and were staying a few days in Sedona, Arizona- a beautiful artsy town. We decided to take a day trip to Prescott, Arizona and on the way visit the historic mining town of Jerome. As we drove through Jerome with all its touristy shops, I decided to give Jeff a break and said, "Let's not stop. I've done enough shopping in Sedona." So we went on our way to Prescott where we did a little shopping anyway and had a great lunch at a very popular restaurant. We were heading back to Sedona and Jeff asked if I minded driving- very rare because he likes to drive. So I drove and we passed through Jerome once again on our way back and still didn't stop. As we were leaving the town and heading out on the highway, I noticed a police car with its lights on behind me so I checked to make sure I wasn't speeding and I pulled to the right so he could pass. But he didn't pass...he pulled up behind me. I shot a look to Jeff and said, "I didn't do anything wrong. I'm going the speed limit." The officer came to my window and asked if I had been in Jerome. I said, "We just passed through but didn't stop." He asked, "You didn't stop? Do you have any money in your wallet?" I very rarely carry money so I said, "No." He asked, "You don't have any twenties?" "No, I don't have any money, I replied." I hear a siren coming in the background and up pulls another policeman with lights flashing behind us. Out comes this little weasely officer (see photo above) who is very hyper and excited and looking at me like I'm in big trouble. He tells me, "A blonde lady, driving a white SUV, has been passing counterfeit twenties in the shops of Jerome." Well, if you look at the photo above, you can see how amusing Jeff was finding all of this. This little guy thinks he has me dead to rights and he's going to throw the book at me and lock me up and throw away the key and all those other clichés! In the meantime, another police vehicle arrives with lights and sirens and pulls in behind our white SUV. In the photo you can see the three different cop cars. Can you imagine the attention we were drawing? Every car that went by was staring at the busted criminals. Jeff had begun to establish a good rapport with the police sergeant who wasn't as hot headed as the little guy from Jerome by showing him is LAFD ID card and Sgt. Pierce was beginning to accept that this was probably a case of mistaken identity. I offered to go back to Jerome with them so that the shopkeepers could tell them they had the wrong person but they decided to take a polaroid (like the one above) and drive it to the shop that had been victimized. If the photo was clearer you could see that Jeff has an ear to ear grin and I'm laughing, too. This did not sit well with the little guy who now realized we were making fun of him and the whole situation. When the word came back that I wasn't the counterfeiter you should've seen the look of disappointment on his face. Sgt. Pierce took another photo (the one above) as a souvenir for us and then gave us his "trading card" and wished us a nice stay in Arizona as the little guy sped off in a cloud of dust.

Thanks, Connie!