John Paulsen's LUVMYJP plate has traveled the world. (January 21, 2010) |
DENVER - Okay, I am like NDAZON or "In the Zone," for those of you who never have had a vanity license plate and had to compress letters and numbers to get a message on a license plate, vanity style.
Personal plates and in general plate-sighting is a fun way to pass time while driving or just stuck in traffic. Some plates have three-letter words, but real plateologists have more to say than that. They take time to play with letters and sayings to get just the right message on their plates.
None do it better than a Castle Rock couple who love to 4x4 in the mountains and plains of Colorado and Utah.
John Paulsen has owned nine Jeeps and loves to rock hop when and wherever. On a trip to Moab about ten years ago, John's front plate got 'misplaced' while helping a fellow Jeeper get unstuck.
"I used my wench, something that is a no-no for Jeeping purists," said Paulsen. "While I thought I threw the plate that read "LUVMYJP" into the car, when we got back to camp it went missing," he told us.
The next thing John knew is that the plate was turning up in weird places and with strange people. The plate first showed up on a Barbie Jeep of one of his buddies who was on the Utah trip.
"Then things blew up, the plate was showing up on the Great Wall, in the Alps and everywhere in between," said John. "We got images from underwater, military bases in Iraq, Machu Pichu, and even the Nile Valley."
For John and his wife, the plate is a source of never-ending fun and pleasure.
Currently, the plate is racking up frequent flier miles all over the world. And while no one knows who has it, no one really cares.
If you have a vanity plate you would like to share, email jon.bowman@kdvr.com
Personal plates and in general plate-sighting is a fun way to pass time while driving or just stuck in traffic. Some plates have three-letter words, but real plateologists have more to say than that. They take time to play with letters and sayings to get just the right message on their plates.
None do it better than a Castle Rock couple who love to 4x4 in the mountains and plains of Colorado and Utah.
John Paulsen has owned nine Jeeps and loves to rock hop when and wherever. On a trip to Moab about ten years ago, John's front plate got 'misplaced' while helping a fellow Jeeper get unstuck.
"I used my wench, something that is a no-no for Jeeping purists," said Paulsen. "While I thought I threw the plate that read "LUVMYJP" into the car, when we got back to camp it went missing," he told us.
The next thing John knew is that the plate was turning up in weird places and with strange people. The plate first showed up on a Barbie Jeep of one of his buddies who was on the Utah trip.
"Then things blew up, the plate was showing up on the Great Wall, in the Alps and everywhere in between," said John. "We got images from underwater, military bases in Iraq, Machu Pichu, and even the Nile Valley."
For John and his wife, the plate is a source of never-ending fun and pleasure.
Currently, the plate is racking up frequent flier miles all over the world. And while no one knows who has it, no one really cares.
If you have a vanity plate you would like to share, email jon.bowman@kdvr.com
