Lonely Texas Highway

I made my trip back to Texas on Thursday. The day started with a flight from Seattle to Dallas and ended with a drive from Dallas to San Angelo. As I was driving down Hwy 277 I kept noticing how the road was really REALLY empty. I hadn't passed anyone in a long time and there was no one behind me to be seen. There were barely any other cars driving the opposite direction, either. A car or two would come by occasionally and then I'd be alone on the highway again...until about 30 miles north of San Angelo. Without any warning a deer appeared in my headlights. Reflex kicked in an I swerved...which is rather dangerous at 65 or 70 miles an hour. Reflex kept kicking in and unfortunately my reflexes don't know how to keep a car under control when taking a sharp turn that fast, so naturally I over-corrected and my car ended up swerving into the oncoming lane and then off the road. My foot on the brake caused the car to do a 180 when we hit the grass off the shoulder of the road. The car then continued to slide until we broadsided a barbed-wire fence and came to a stop. When I looked out the windshield a strand of barbed wire was running right over the center of the car. After catching many breathes and frantically sorting my way through adrenaline and logical thought, I put the car back in drive and pulled back out to the side of the road. I walked around the car with a flashlight to make sure the car was okay - which it seemd to be except for the gob-fulls of grass that were stuck between the rim and tire on both right tires and scratches from the barbed wire that spread across the body of the car on the right side. Still rather shook up, I decided the best bet was to keep driving home - just slower in case the tires had some malady I couldn't see with my not-so-bright flashlight. I made it home okay, thank goodness. Upon further inspection of the car in daylight hours, I saw this:

The dents indicated that I must have hit more than just barbed wire - I probably took out a couple of fence posts too. And the scratches were MUCH worse than I originally thought.

This deer accident is kind of ironic, actually. I almost hit this deer about 12 hours shy of the one year anniversary of a deer hitting us on our honeymoon. This is the damage from that incident.


So now both sides of my car bear the terrible marks of wildlife. This year's damage is actually a lot worse than last years because the scratches spread from head to tail AND because I have 2 dents in front and one in back. At least the car still runs well. It's athestetics have taken a beating, but the A/C still works and it gets me from point A to point B!

I really have a lot to be thankful for. That deer encounter could have been a LOT worse. If I hadn't of swerved, the deer would of gone through my windshield and then I and my car would have been scratched up. It's also a very good thing that the highway was as empty as it was. Had there been oncoming traffic when I swerved off the road things could have been...well...not good.