The Saga Continues
Okay so this morning I had an appointment with the State Patrol to inspect my little trailer.
Twenty years in the Military has taught me well how to deal with "red tape". I left my house at 7 am for an 8:30 appointment (it's a 25 minute trip). Plugged the address I received in the confirmation email into Mr. GPS ... opps ... the address is in the middle of a pasture. Hmmm ... headed to the Loma State Patrol weigh station on I70 (the address in the email is in Loma). The officer was very nice and told me the inspections are done on the West Portal.
Onto I70 west for 500 feet, and I was there. They had a big sign that said VIN inspections here. I didn't park there because I was there for a road worthiness inspection as per the DMV forms.
An officer came out and asked if he could help me. I explained that I needed a road worthiness inspection and had an appointment.
He rebuked me for not following the signs. I calmly said I was sorry, but, there was no sign guiding me to were I needed to be. He said, the VIN exception and the road worthiness inspections arte the same things.
I calmly replied that maybe they should change their sign to say "VIN/Road Worthiness Inspections" or just "Inspections".
He asked me if I have had anything to drink this morning? I replied, yes sir, coffee. He said you know what I mean, I'm talking alcohol. I said that never crossed my mind. I don't drink and since it is 8:05 in the morning, I had no way of knowing that was what he meant.
He orders me to get between the cones as per the signs and he'd be right with me. Okay, the sign says park between the cones on the line and remain in the vehicle. So I did.
He comes out with another officer with a clip board and asks to see my paperwork. I ask if I can get off the trike to get it out of the trunk. He looks at me incredulously and asks why I would ask that. I just pointed at the sign. He was getting a little frustrated with me ... but, I remained calm. He says fine, get the paperwork. I do, and handed him what the DMV gave me. He hands me back all but one of the forms. He tells me to start the bike. I do. He goes to the front of the trike and looks at the VIN. Then he tells me to hit the high beams.
I do and tell him, I'm perfectly okay with him inspecting the trike, but, I'm here for the little trailer in the rear ...
He says, "Really, I have to inspect that?" I said, "Sir, these are not my laws, but, I believe in giving onto God that which is God's, and giving onto Cesar, that which is Cesar's."
He says, " What does that mean?" I said, "Just that i'm doing my best to obey both the laws of man and the laws of God".
He looks at the little trailer and tells me he has no idea where to start. I handed him back a form the DMV gave me, that I originally gave him and he gave me back, which talks about verifying the lights work, proper safety chains, tire tread satisfactory, and weather or not max weight DOT tags are required.
He says, okay, guess we should check the lights, we do, he says yep, two safety chains, new tires and then he says "How do I know the GVW on this trailer. I hand him the Chinese title that came with it. It shows the GVW at 1200#, DOT markings don't come into play until 10K# ... pretty sure he could tell just by looking that it was less than that. He hands me back the paperwork, except the form he originally needed and asks how I plan to pay, check or cash. I ask him who the check needs to be made out to. I hand him the check and he says I'll be right back.
About 10 minutes later he comes out with two forms and tells me I'm all set. I ask him if he is aware that the email the State Patrol sends out confirming required appointments and giving the address leads folks to a pasture? Again with the incredulous look, so i show him the email and he says, I'll get that fixed, there is no address here, just the west portal in Loma, of the State Patrol.
I thank him and head out. Of course, I'm heading west on I70. Had to go 2 miles west, exit, reverse direction and then head back to Grand Junction, about 14 miles.
I decided to go get my plates, thinking the 5th of July should be a slow day for them. It was. But, it still took 45 minutes for the same clerk that issued the $7.08 temp two day plate to figure out how to get where we need to be. Total cost for the plate, registration, and new VIN tag, $57.57. So total cost for all the red tape, $84.65.
So one would think I was legal now ... right ...
right ...
right?
Nope, had to go home, grind off the old VIN plate (tack welded onto the tongue) and screw the new VIN plate on. Of course, the old VIN plate was huge and the new one is small, so I needed to paint the area behind the old VIN plate. Then screw the new one on. (I was told the new one had to be screwed on)
Old grounded off, screw holes made for the new:
Area painted and new plate screwed on.
Only thing left to do ... was to swap out the new legal plate for the temp.
Wheeeew ... the little trailer is ready to roll. I named her the little girl.
As an "oh by the way" ... the little girl handled really well, even empty and at 75 mph. I was surprised that there was no bouncing ... apparently taking the little leaf off the springs was a good thing.