I Must Have a Tracker On Me!

For the second time, I've been stopped by the JBLM MP. Today, Geraldine, Karen, and I headed out to Area 20. It was the only area open in our neck of the woods. The last time I went that way with Brian, we cut through Area 22 to get to 20. I decided we would do that again. The only problem was that I forgot exactly which turns to take once we were on the gravel/dirt. No problem! We would just ride around until we came to something familiar. We ended up coming back out on Spurgeon Creek Rd not terribly far from where we had gone in on Rainier Rd. This was familiar to me. I knew we could get back on the gravel, still in Area 22, and stay off the paved road.

Just after we pulled back onto the dirt, we stopped for a brief moment. We could still see Spurgeon Creek Rd. About that time, a black military pickup pulls onto the road behind us. The MP stops and gets out of his truck. I'm not too worried because both Geraldine and I have Access Permits. He asks us what we're doing. We tell him we're trying to get to Area 20. He says we can't get there from here. He says it is way over by the casino. I say I thought that was Area 19. He says 20 is next to 19 (this, I know). Geraldine pulls out her brochure that has a very poor map on it. The MP gets his much better map. He tells us we can go out to Rainier Rd and ride to the old paved (now chip sealed) road. That road goes between Areas 22 and 21 (this, I also know). He says it will take us to 20. Okay we say, we'll do that. After he gives us a few pointers on what we should do if we were to get lost (call 911), he sends us on our way. Never once does he ask to see our permits! Then again, I think, in our conversation, we made it pretty clear we have them.

So, we did do as we were told. Did some riding around in Area 20 (or maybe 19--who knows?) and came back on the road. No one else has ever mentioned being stopped by the MPs while out gravel riding on JBLM. I've been stopped twice now. It makes me wonder if I have some kind of tracking device that I'm unaware of somewhere on me, or Mama Cass!