It was a normal day with a basic normal day trip planned. I drove to Alice’s to pick her up for our trip. We were going to see Brit and go to Elizabeth’s baby shower at their church. The drive out was uneventful and fun. We chatted about everything. Great sunny weather and beautiful landscapes made the 3 hour drive enjoyable.
We made it to Brit’s by 1:00 PM. We needed to leave and noticed it was raining outside. I mean pouring! It was bad. It was coming down in sheets. We made it into the van, a little wet but we were on our way. We got about 5 minutes from the house when the winds picked up and visibility got worse. I finally decided to pull over since I could barely see. Good thing for the new wipers! We noticed hail was coming down as we waited it out. After a few minutes it seemed to be passing by so we pulled back on the road. About 4 minutes later visibility was getting to zero so once again I pulled over. This time the winds were really bad and I feared a tornado might be coming. It was so loud from the rain and hail that we couldn’t even hear the radio for any warnings. Alice prayed and took authority over the storm and it slowed down to just rain. We were on our way again and this time we made it to the church. We found out there from one of the ladies that the winds were clocked at 60 MPH! After a few more minutes of driving the storm was totally gone and the sun was coming out! It was really crazy. I was trying to deal with the mixed emotions of it and refused to put on my sunglasses when 5 minutes earlier I was praying for my life!!! The baby did fine through it all.
After the shower, we headed back to Brit’s and visited for a short bit. We were on our way home around 4:45. We pulled over at 5:45 pm to eat dinner at a cute restaurant called Woody’s. It was very quaint inside and we knew we were in for a treat! Well the website for the Woody’s must not have been updated in awhile because the prices were much higher than quoted online. We ate there anyway since we had our water and garlic toast to munch on.
Back on the road at 7PM and we found we missed more rain while inside the restaurant. Good thing. I didn’t want to be more stressed out over the rain again but on the highway this time. About 8:30 PM we were in the passing lane, passing the semis when a deer ran in front of us. We hit it! Or I should say it hit us! I didn’t brake or weave. I just hit and kept on going. I passed the semi and got over to the side of the road. I expected the headlight to be damaged. What was damaged was the hood of the van. That was the only thing!!! Oh yeah, the left headlight is pointing down and the bottom of the front bumper has damage on the underside. Not even something that can really be seen. We are so thankful for the protection of God. It could of been worse. There was no one to my left, the deer probably landed in the median and died there. No one else swerved to miss it and no one else had to pull over. All we have to replace is the hood of the van! If it hit the bumper the airbags would have deployed and made the situation worse. We both were not injured. I was pretty shaken up but managed to drive home.
I am sure Alice and I will have a good laugh over this trip many times as we repeat it to our friends. It was a fun trip.
I have always feared hitting a deer and the fear of the unknown was the worst part. But now that it’s happened, and I controlled the vehicle, I am more confident about driving and not worrying about it any longer. It was a good thing in the end.
And thanks to Phil for working our getting out of debt plan, we have the money to fix the van. I had a total peace about that!
The best part of the day is that we got to see and hold Elizabeth and visit with Brit. She is feeling well and has to remind herself she is pregnant again. The baby is so cute and is now rolling over and almost sitting on her own already! She is a sweetie!
Here is Elizabeth, at 5 months, with a bow in her hair!
