I left home April 2, with Liberty Van and the
big Eagle. I started off with NIGHT pics of WV Statehouse, on my way to
Kingwood (my new favorite overnight stop).
For some reason, I've gotten busted for
'Christmas lights' TWICE in Kingwood, but NEITHER of my
vans has ever been harassed ANYWHERE else in WV.
I've been driving Liberty Van through there with all kinds of
lights on it for SEVEN years, yet so far BOTH tickets have been with Freedom Van
(pink & green lights).
Liberty Van has RED, WHITE, and BLUE lights - red & blue are
ALSO 'incorrect' colors, yet so far, they're not picking on it. I've been
pondering whether the law
enforcers have more respect for red, white, and blue than for
pink or green??? Go figure.
The ride from Charleston up to Morgantown (and Kingwood) was
FANTASTIC. That great big eagle flies SO BEAUTIFULLY, doesn't even affect
my gas mileage. The van breaks ALL
the wind for him, and the folks that pass me (I NEVER speed! - I
always set cruise control RIGHT ON the limit) are loving him too, taking all
kinds of pics, and waving & smiling.
We did 70 all the way up those mountains.
I stop in there on my way to and from where ever now. I
LOVE the road from I-68 going in there. It's like the one I live on
(twisty and mountainous), except mine isn't paved, so I don't
drive over 5mph on it unless I'm going to wash my van
<G>. I WILL let them arrest me next time if they want. I've
never been arrested before, should be interesting. I had one of my
show dogs with me last time, that is the ONLY reason I allowed
this officer to violate my rights, and turned off my lights. Now, I make
sure NOT to bring a dog with me there. It's an
ART CAR - IT HAS LIGHTS - GET OVER IT. And, all law
enforcement officers have taken an OATH to DEFEND the Constitution. In a
country where the Supreme Court has ruled
BURNING AN AMERICAN FLAG is Constitutionally protected FREEDOM
OF SPEECH, I will NOT accept shutting down MY FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION.
Since I was not sure I would not get arrested in Kingwood (or
elsewhere in WV?), and did not want to chance being late to court in VA (on the
5th), I left a day earlier than I needed to.
Since I didn't have any problems in Kingwood, and had an extra
day, decided to take a run up to NJ, and visit my attorney there. He had not yet
ever seen the Liberty Van that I was
driving when I got that ticket. When I went to court up
there before, I took Freedom Van, because Liberty Van was in the shop
again. On the way back from that meeting, I decided
to get some new pics in Trenton, at the Statehouse, as I am now
officially 'harassed' in The People's Republic of New Jersey. I got there
about noon, and really enjoyed the lunch
crowds, and the BUSSES and BUSSES of KIDS, all hanging at the
windows with their cameras and phones out.
I got harassed in Philly for the very first
time. I've cruised Philly a number of times with Liberty Van, though
not in the past couple
of years. No tickets this trip - after about
40 minutes (with literally hundreds of folks
cameras on us - LOT of tourists around the
Liberty Bell, and
Independence Hall) I think they figured out I'm
more trouble than it's worth to them, and they let me
go. For the
first time EVER, though, I was UNable completely to get a pic of Liberty Van. I have pics of it in front of
EVERY statehouse except
Alaska and Hawaii,
plus all the big National buildings and
monuments, plus am starting to accumulate a fair number of courthouse pics.
Some of them are harder to get than others.
Often, there is a lot of traffic, no legal place
to park, it can be
a challenge - but I always
manage to get some kind of a pic even of the more
challenging ones. But, this trip, they COMPLETELY prevented me from getting
ANY photo at ALL of
Liberty Van next to Liberty Bell. I really wanted one of the
big Eagle, it was his first ever trip to Philly. Reason they
stopped me and harassed me is I took pics of the guys who would not let me take my pic.
Figured I can put
THAT on the website.
So, HERE IT IS,
These are ALL the photos I could get at the Liberty Bell. Tons of
other folks took TONS of pics, though.
Grabbed a couple of night pics in front of the US Capitol the night before
court,
So, does it look better with it's lights off???
Since now I know here is yet another 'rubber stamp kangaroo' type court, I
must decide whether to pay the $30, (and just post all the info
so the really guilty will not be protected), or whether to appeal this
one? Since they only give you 10 CALENDAR days, there is not much
time to think about it. If I had been able to find an attorney, I should
not have lost this one. The officer put a couple of misleading items
on
the citation. I was NOT doing what she said at a TIME when it would
have been illegal. But this judge does not listen to anyone but officers,
and perhaps lawyers. Though I told him I wanted one, he would not
allow time for me to try to find one, and would not listen to ANYTHING.
You get NO 'due process' rights without one. Not all judges are like
that, I've won quite a few of them on my own - but can't get to first base
if they won't let you talk. Till I figure it out, I will withhold the
actual documentation (and names, etc.) off this website. I did thank the
officer
for the LOVELY trip I was having, but I still don't think she should get
away with this stuff. I talk to folks ALL OVER this country who are
outright PREYED on by such as this, and plundered by this type of
'court'. They usually can't afford to take a day off of work to go
to
court, let alone hire an attorney to defend them.
Since you are not allowed by Fairfax County to file for an appeal ANY OTHER
WAY THAN IN PERSON, looks like they must WANT me to
come RIGHT BACK here. The deadline for me to file an appeal is TAX
DAY - what a coincidence, and I thought I was going to miss that
this year! I will be at Freedom Works Tax Day Tea Party in Washington
DC. So, having gotten home at 2 am Sun. the 7th, I am about
ready to hit the road AGAIN, tomorrow am (Wed. the 10th). I'll
be driving Liberty Van, and bringing the big Eagle again.
IF I decide not to appeal, I will go park in front of City Hall again, and
pay the fine in person. They give you 30 days for that - so no
hurry.
And tomorrow (actually now today) is my daughter Rose's
birthday. We had her party today.
I celebrated my 'day in court' by running down to Richmond to take a new
photo of the Statehouse of The People's Republic of Virginia, since I
am officially being harassed here.
I topped it off by cruising the National Mall, and the WW II
Monuments.
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