Yosemite Tales: #1 story from my trip.

Here's the best story from my five-day adventure in Yosemite:

I've been driving for more than 17 years. In that time, I've had just one accident; it happened three months after I got my license.

I've had two silly tickets: one, in Berkeley, for parking along a street on the street-sweeping day; and two, also in Berkeley, for parking in a tow-away zone, and getting my car towed. Ooops.

I've never been caught speeding. I've never gotten a speeding ticket.

Things changed Tuesday: I got pulled over for speeding. In Yosemite. Yes, Yosemite.

They're doing some road work in Yosemite right now, so a stretch of road that's normally one-way now handles two-way traffic. That change has brought the speed limit DOWN from 35MPH to an astonishingly slow 25MPH.

Tuesday afternoon, I was driving this stretch of road. I came around a corner. There sat a park ranger vehicle staring straight at me. As I passed him, I saw in my rear-view mirror that he had turned around and was following me. A minute later, the lights went on.

He checked out my license, proof of insurance and registration -- though that one took a while to find in my glove compartment -- and walked back to his vehicle. I sat there, waiting. I was chuckling to myself, because he told me I was driving 36 in a 25 zone...even though the zone NORMALLY is a 35 zone.

Mr Park Ranger returned to my vehicle, handed me my documents, and told me he was letting me go with just a verbal warning. I thanked him, and then he let me go on my merry way -- but not without asking why I had completely different addresses on my driver license, my proof of insurance and my registration. Easy, I explained. License: old, old address. Insurance: current home. Reg: old apartment where I was living when I renewed my reg last year.

He chuckled and let me drive away.

But not without putting the fear of God in me. Since Tuesday, I don't think I've driven more than 5MPH above any speed limit I've seen. Hey, I like having a nearly perfect driving record -- and the insurance rates that come with it!