Police Checkpoint- Drug Dogs in Use

I never shared this funny story from our trip home from Utah, so I thought I'd take a minute to share it with all of you. As many of you know we drove home from Utah straight through the night, with Rick's sister Sarah coming along with us. Rick drove most of the night, and I took over driving at about 4 am. I then drove until we stopped for breakfast sometime around 7-8 in the morning. After breakfast, Rick thought he'd be ok to drive some more, so I sat shotgun, and he started driving. At this point we were in Nebraska. It wasn't too far when Rick realized he was really too drowsy to be driving. Sarah said she could take over, so we decided to pull over and make the switch.

Not seeing a rest area soon, Rick pulled over on the exit ramp. As we were pulling off the interstate, I pointed out some interesting signs posted. They said "Drug Dogs in Use". Rick stopped at the stop sign, proceeded through to the on ramp, and pulled off the shoulder. I moved from the passenger seat to the back, Sarah moved from the back to the driver's seat, and Rick moved from the driver's seat to the passenger's seat. We paused for a moment for Rick to explain a few things about our van to Sarah, and we were off.

Sarah was cruising along at a comfortable speed, when she noticed a police car behind her with the lights flashing. We were all surprised, as Sarah had been driving right at the speed limit. She hadn't even had time to find out what the speed limit was there in Nebraska. The officer came to Rick's window and asked to see HIS license. We were all very confused. He proceeded to explain that he was pulling us over because Rick hadn't made a complete stop at the stop sign when we exited. PLUS, he informed us that it is illegal to stop along the interstate, even on an exit ramp. Ok, we thought, strange reason for pulling us over. Then he asked if we had seen any signs about a police checkpoint. We said that we had not. Again he said, "you didn't see any signs as you exited the freeway?". I reminded Rick of the Drug Dog sign, we told the officer and let him know that we didn't know what it was for. The officer then asked for Sarah's license as well, and asked Rick to accompany him back to his car.

Rick obediently obliged, and Sarah and I wondered what on Earth was going on? I seriously thought they were taking him back to be sniffed by a dog, or searched for drugs or something. We watched out the back of the van, for any sign of what was going on. I felt some relief when I saw Rick laughing in the passenger seat of the patrol car. It wasn't too long before Rick returned to the van. Sarah pulled back onto the freeway, and Rick filled us in with the details.
It turns out that there was no police checkpoint or drug dogs. The signs were there to catch people doing the very thing it appeared we were doing. They assumed, if there was trouble, i.e. people driving with an expired license, stolen vehicle, or even drugs, they would see the sign, pull over and switch drivers. It just so happened that we chose the WRONG exit to do that very thing. Once Rick's license came up fine, as well as the VIN for the van, the officer knew there was no problem. What are the odds that we would choose to pull off at an exit and switch drivers at the very exit they were watching for people to do that!!?? Let this be a lesson to all of you- if you see a sign for a police checkpoint ahead, or a drug dog in use, pick another exit to make your quick stop!!!