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View Full Version : Funny thing happened on the way to Harper's Ferry...



1Pint
07-10-2006, 22:45
Well, I was all psyched up for my first look at the infamous Harper's Ferry and only my third look at a piece of the AT.... so....

I rallied some friends and loaded them into my car and began the 5 hour drive. Okay, would have been closer to 4 hrs, but it was a holiday weekend and the stateies were everywhere. Go through a tunnel in PA, around a bend and then wham! Cop in the center decides I'm his target and with flashing lights and laughing (very quietly) friends, I'm off to the side of the road to receive one ugly speeding ticket. I'm kicking myself for the wasted money (the trip just doubled in cost) and my increased insurance rates and my friends are giving me grief - afterall, only an idiot gets a speeding ticket on a holiday weekend when it's KNOWN that the freeway is blanketed with cops.

Not 10 minutes later, my oil light begins to flash on and off. A minute after that, my engine light comes on. Oh, this is not good. We see a yellow emergency call box, pull over and check the oil. Sure enough, dip stick is dry. Hmmm. That's funny 'cause I got the oil changed the night before we left and I know I saw her put the oil in before I pulled out of the garage. So, a service truck gets called. It takes two of my friends back to the shop while we wait for the actual tow truck to come back for my car. The highlight of the tow? PA still wanted my $7.00 toll. Not kidding. Couldn't they have just given me the "You're so screwed and such a loser, we're giving you the pity pass?" I mean, come on, you can see my car on the flat bed of the tow truck I'm riding in. Does it look like this is how I intended to spend my 4th of July weekend? No. I should have been upset, but all I could do was laugh. While we were waiting for the truck I had joked to my friend that at least I'd saved the toll fee. Boy was I wrong.

But wait, there's more.... Back at the tow place, they examine it, tell me I'll probably need a new engine and send me to the local dealership. Dealership was kind enough to make a rental car available until their service department opened up on Monday. Unfortunately, the dealership dude notices my insurance card expired on the 23rd. I hadn't put my new one in my wallet. (Can you see the bonehead theme in this story?) So I have to call the national number and ask them very nicely if they would pretty please fax proof of insurance to the dealership. After a long time on hold and a promise for a return call from someone who's actually authorized to do that, it's done and I'm transferring all the lugguage (no ultralight for this weekend gig) and I'm headed back to the tow place to get my friends who'd passed the time watching Annapolis on their portable DVD player (like I said, not UL).

We were about 6 hours later than we expected getting in to Shepherdsburg and Harpers Ferry, but we were laughing most of the time. I mean, what can you do in a situation like that except laugh? And, the engine problem did help me forget about the speeding ticket for awhile.

End result? we lost out on some hiking but I now have some great pictures of my car up on a tow truck and my friends waving happily at me as they drove away. And I was able to pick up the intimidating AT map that keeps unfolding and unfolding and unfolding. So, a successful trip afterall.

Okay, I know this can't be the best story out there... let's see what you've got.

Just Jeff
07-10-2006, 23:38
Not a hiking story, but I've had to put my family INSIDE the Cherokee as it was on the back of one of those flatbed tow trucks. Not once but twice. We got some pretty funny reactions at the red lights.

hikerjohnd
07-11-2006, 00:19
I had a similar experience - though not as many friends laughing and no hiking trip was ruined. 1992 or so, Friday of Memorial Day weekend, I get a ticket for running a red light (I still insist the light was green (not yellow) when I crossed the line). Get the ticket after a few words with the cop (I asked about the half dozen other cars that were behind me and did not get tickets for going through the light - but I am getting off track). I try to restart the car - no dice. Officer friendly walks back up to find out what is going wrong - I tell him and he says it is just not my weekend. Then he pulls away without even offering assistance (oh like a call for a tow or a jump start). A nice guy stops and the car will not turn over. I eventually get a tow - but the garage is closing - they can not look at it until Tuesday. Oh well - I try to rent a car for the weekend. It is at this point I learn that folks under 25 do not have that luxury. No wheels for the whole weekend. In the end - all the car needed was a new battery - I could have done that myself! On the good news front - I went to court to contest the ticket. The judge dismissed the fine because the cop did not look out for my safety and at least offer to call a tow truck (I made sure the cop left the parking lot before I did that day).

emerald
07-12-2006, 16:10
Thank you for your generous contribution to the Commonweath of Pennsylvania's coffers. Please come back and visit us again soon.

You may wish to consider taking the A.T. rather than The Pennsylvania Turnpike. There are no speed limits on the A.T. despite at least one sign to the contrary. If someone complains that you are going too fast, just tell that busybody to HYOH and keep on trucking. It'll probably be some loser who won't make it to Katahdin who should just be ignored anyway.

RockyTrail
07-12-2006, 16:24
Death & taxes, and in Pennsylvania, tolls...

Just Jeff
07-12-2006, 19:11
Yep - nothing is certain but Death and Taxes. And the Braves choking in the post-season. If they make it there.

1Pint
07-12-2006, 21:17
Yes, how does a $35 speeding fine cost $158? Don't know, but that's what the paperwork says. For less ($153), I can fly one way from Cleveland to Atlanta next year to start my thru. A much better way to spend my money. Think the Commonwealth will agree? What if I donate it to charity? Say, maybe to the Laura's Thru-hiking Scholarship? Hmm.

StarLyte
07-19-2006, 15:40
Death & taxes, and in Pennsylvania, tolls...

ha ha YESSS!

I drive to PA frequently---tolls. I know it's for the "commonwealth" but....it hurts especially with the cost of gasoline.

Yet.....when I see the Appalachian mountains.....I say......oh yeah......it's worth every penny.

RockyTrail
07-19-2006, 17:08
Yeah, I always wondered why I-95 up in that area has a toll booth what seems like every 1000 feet; I mean what's the purpose of a freeway if you have to stop all the time? Ridiculous...Georgia got its first toll booth a few years ago, I have still yet to go down and use it even once and hope I don't ever have to.

Great story Pint, sorry you had so much trouble but it makes a good story to tell your grandchildren someday.:sun

c.coyle
07-19-2006, 19:21
Death & taxes, and in Pennsylvania, tolls...

As far as I know, we have only one toll road, the Pa. Turnpike. All of the toll bridges I know of are at state lines.


Yes, how does a $35 speeding fine cost $158? Don't know, but that's what the paperwork says...

Fines are based on how far over the limit you were. You must have been haulin' a**!

eightiesguy
07-23-2006, 09:18
I figure I'll add my recent story to the mix here: Since Jan 1., me and two friends had been planning a week long hike on the GA AT (Springer to Deep Gap). June 2nd, me and one buddy were driving through KY (We're from OH), and the transmission goes out of my car. We try to call the 3rd person in our group (who is another car with his pregnant wife, 3 yr old daughter, mother-in-law, and his wife's grandmother). We finally get ahold of them about 4 hours later when they are passing through Gatlinburg. At this point we told him to continue on to the hotel we were all going to stay at that night, and the two of us proceeded to check into a hotel. In the morning I started calling around to the local repair shops, and finally found one open. I had the car towed there, and they verified that the seal had gone in the tranny, but the local tranny shop was closed on saturday/sunday.... great. We make arrangements for my buddy's wife to drive down from OH to pick us up. In the meantime, the 3rd person in the group starts calling and offering to drive the 5+ hours to get us, then take us back to GA so we could salvage our hike. We decline his offer, because I didn't want to make him drive for 10 hours straight, and wait for our ride. Fast forward a couple of days..... I'd made arrangements to have the car fixed, and was debating on the best way for me to get back to KY to pick up the car. The answer: quick hiking trip from Clingmans to Fontana.... in a desperate attempt to salvage our trip, me and my buddy decide to do a quick weekend trip.... we can pay for the car on the way down, have them leave it out and pick it up on the way back. We contact the 3rd member of our group (he'd flown back home so that he could work and not loose a week's vacation... his wife/inlaws/kid stayed in GA visiting family), only to find out that he'd left all of his gear in GA with his wife, and now had work committments that he couldn't get out of anyway. I guess that the 3rd member of our group got cheated the most out of this deal.... and he was pretty mad at us for awhile.... but there's always next year :)

Topcat
07-23-2006, 11:20
Fines in PA are not only on how fast you are going. Some townships add on extrodinary court fees for the privilige of standing in the Justice of the Peaces office. I had one in Lititz that was $35 fine, $85 court cost, 911 charge and some other stuff tacked on. One of PA's secret taxes they dont tell you about.

c.coyle
07-23-2006, 18:56
Fines in PA are not only on how fast you are going. Some townships add on extrodinary court fees for the privilige of standing in the Justice of the Peaces office. I had one in Lititz that was $35 fine, $85 court cost, 911 charge and some other stuff tacked on. One of PA's secret taxes they dont tell you about.

No. All fines and costs are set by the state legislature. Townships and local municipalities can't add costs to vehicle code violations. But you're right, the boys in Harrisburg aren't shy about adding fees and costs

squivens
07-27-2006, 14:53
I have my recent one in front of me ...
EMS fee ... $10
Catastrophic fund ... $40
Judicial computer project ... $8.50
Access to Justice ... $1.50
Court Cost (commonwealth) ... $6.49
Court Cost (city) ... $16.02
Commonwealth Cost ... $6.49
State Fine ... (the actual ticket)

They commonwealth screws you twice.