In my last post I wrote this:
“Ninety miles west of Burns is a semi-abandoned “town” called Brothers. There’s not much there. I dimly recall a few collapsed buildings. There’s maybe a dozen residents and twice as many jack rabbits. There is always a cop at Brothers. The cop is always manning a speed trap. Once you pass the cop you’ve passed the first attempt to “harvest” you (or at least your money). Whether it’s a speed trap or a freak selling organic granola you’ll be “harvested” all the way to the Pacific. Hold your wallet tight.”
I knew I was telling the truth but had no idea there was photographic proof. Luckily my readers were far ahead of me (hat trip to “Malatrope”!).
Here, for your viewing pleasure, is a Google street view of Brothers, OR (or click this link).
Notice the busy traffic in the background? We live in a nation that has Chicago and have chosen to position highly trained and well equipped men and women… here.
Thanks for the hat tip! I was thinking of driving back through there to see if there really aren’t speed limit signs, and, if not, finding the cop to ask him what the speed limit was – but he’d probably ticket me for being a smartass. There are easier ways to get to the Three Sisters wilderness than through his little fiefdom.
The Three Sisters is pretty sweet though. Don’t let a cop turn you off to that! (I just know I’ll get a lot of off color commentary from that verbiage but that doesn’t detract from the beautiful forests of the Cascades. Also, I find it amusing to see hipsters who freak out about every last molecule of pollution hiking in the gorgeous forest that’s growing out of something analogous to a post-apocalyptic lava field. Folks who haven’t seen the area really should… some parts of the Cascades barely have soil but have a forest improbably sprouting out of the very rock.)
I live in Idaho now and would approach from the north, down 97 to Redmond, then over to Sisters (we used to stop at The Gallery restaurant before Sisters became a tourist trap), then over 242 to McKenzie Bridge. Beautiful drive! Hiking around in the lava fields is a real adventure. I even climbed most of the way up the North Sister once, along a route nobody else uses. In the other direction, I took my son up to the top of Little Belknap when he was kneehigh to a grasshopper.
I know the area because I lived in McKenzie Bridge for many years. I got in trouble when I was a little kid because I rode my bicycle from McKenzie Bridge up to 242 (seven miles) without authorization. Funny, I’ve been like that ever since…
I would recommend the Old McKenzie Highway (242) to anybody on a bike, though. It’s a fantastic drive – but don’t take any camper trailers along unless you like to scrape up the sides on 5MPH curves around lava rock outcroppings.
“Law Enforcement” in this country exist to protect their Masters, protect their Brothers in Blue, and generate revenue. Nothing more. And the “Legal” system knows that full well, but does nothing. Or do you REALLY think this could continue if the “Legal” system did not aid and abet it? And it’s not just the county’s “Legal” system, but also the state and federal as well. If piggy were disproportionately stopping Preferred Species, do you have any doubts what the State or Federal governments would do? But since it is instead just Mere Citizens, and probably more White Males than any others, they don’t give a damn.
And it ain’t just Oregon. You know full well they do the same thing in Maine. And down here in Florida. The stench is overwhelming. And it smells like pig. And like lawyer.
If you have the misfortune to drive through Asotin county, WA with out of state plates, you will be given a ticket for 72 in a 60, regardless of what the limit is or how fast you are going. 4 times for my family members alone.
Same way Sheriff Jewell Futch used to do in Lowndes County, Georgia, a few years ago. He was more selective. His deputies would cruise I-95 and ticket cars with New York or New Jersey plates. They could pay a fine that day, or set a court date. He knew that none of them were going to stay in the area, and he could count on the “Legal” system to make any court date as inconvenient as possible for them. Apparently his deputies finally ticketed someone from one of those sewers with some pull, because the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) put some New York and some New Jersey tags on some cars and drove them up and down I-95 through Lowndes County at the posted speed limit. When enough of them had been pulled over, they went to Jewell’s office and helped him understand the error of his ways.
A short time later, Sheriff Futch and his deputies were caught running a gambling ring. Most likely that only happened as a result of the initial action, since GBI was probably aware of his proclivities for some time.