Ride along with Deputy Sutton

My older brother has been a deputy sheriff for the past 6 1/2 years for Linn County in Oregon. He and his newly formed family (the most recent addition added in January) live in quaint little Brownsville (population 1630). The Tour of the Williamette used to hold a crit in down town Brownsville - and now it's a frequent resting spot for Harley riders. I love visiting them because of the country road access - just a mile from their house - and how life just seems to slow down.

I cruised down Friday night - and got stuck in a little bit of traffic (5 1/2 hours in the car). Coleman was super excited when I first showed up and couldn't stand it. He just turned four and is cute as can be. Am I a proud auntie? You bet.

Anyways, on Saturday I headed out for a ride between Brownsville and Eugene, traveling along some of the best roads I've been on this year. The sun was out, the leaves in full effect and I didn't get chased by a single dog! It took me about 3.5 hours and I saw several covered bridges and farms. The Ducks were playing USC so I was glad to be traveling via my own accord when I reached the city. Apparently OR goes nuts when there's a duck game in town - I-5 was solid grid lock after the game. Luckily 99 was wide open and I hitched a ride back North with my Dad and Martha.

Saturday night we carved pumpkins till about 9 - at which point we all felt like zombies and went to bed. I did a ride along with George the next morning - meaning up at 5:30. Ouch. I haven't been up that early in a long time!

We had one call - some woman reported her 19 year old daughter was missing. Apparently they've had this same issue before - which resulted in the daughter putting a restraining order against her abusive boyfriend, who is also the father of their 9 month old. Well her R.O. expired and he in turn had one against her, which was still in effect. If the daughter was found with the loser boyfriend, then she was going to be hauled to jail. A few phone calls later, the daughter was cussing out my brother on the phone saying she hadn't been in contact with her ex-boyfriend. Well according to her friend who she was last seen with, the daughter was dropped off at said ex-boyfriends house and they were "getting back together." My bro tried calling the number the daughter had left at the sheriff's office and the boyfriend was trying to dial out at the same time. "We should've known your mom was going to pull some shit like that!" George called her back, told her that he has a R.O. against her and if he finds them together, he's going to put her in jail. Jerry Springer action. Hair pulling, cat fighting, screaming - all the essentials for some good American television. Who said the Sunday morning shift was boring?

I asked George if he gets personally vested in any of the cases that he deals with and he responded more than anything else he gets pissed off because he deals with stupid idiots all day long who only lie to him. Note to self - don't become a law enforcement officer! I appreciate what he and all of the other law enforcement people do - but sheesh! Dealing with morons all day sounds depressing. :)

I made it home in record time - 4.5 hours. Just in time to eat some dinner and pass out. Ryan came home around 1 am - after a weekend in Vegas with some rock climbing friends. He had a great time - can't wait to hear his stories.