As I cruised southward on Interstate 84 in northeastern Oregon, I was suddenly thrust into a photographic emergency---the need to document my presence at the 45th Parallel. Such an emergency makes it all right to stop on the shoulder of an interstate highway.

I had been traveling at unbelievable but legal speed. The speed was unbelievable because my car had only 70 horsepower. By the time I stopped on the shoulder I was way past the sign, so I carefully backed up to the sign. Backing up like that is fully authorized for photographic emergencies.

After turning off the car's ignition I grabbed my camera and switched it from Shooting While Driving Mode to Spatial Relationships Mode, then walked back to the vantage point of this photo. While I was carefully documenting this scene, a group of state police vehicles stopped and their drivers surrounded me as if to imply that I was doing something bad.

One of them---possibly the highest-ranking of the lot---told me that stopping on the shoulder of interstate highways is not permitted and that I could be hauled off to jail for this very serious violation. As he talked, his right hand rested on the handle of his pistol. When I explained that I was responding to a photographic emergency, he relaxed, flashed a big smile, and wished me well. Then he and his cohorts piled into their cars and drove off. A few of them gave me friendly beeps of the horn or flashed a "thumbs up" gesture as they departed.

This was shot during my first road trip to Utah,
two miles south of the town of North Powder, Oregon.

I disavow any knowledge of allowing the description above to contain a lie, a fib, an untruth, a falsehood, or a misstatement. Furthermore, I also disavow any knowledge of trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes, engaging in a con job, or exaggerating for the sake of getting laughs or votes.