Our car ride to Chicago began so well, Dale was ready when he said he was going to be ready, we made good time. Then, after a short break at a rest stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere south of Champaign, we got back onto I-57 and 30 seconds later...kaboom. I had been looking down at my phone while Dale took over the driving so I had no idea what in the world happened. Seems a deer ran into the interstate narrowly missing the car next to us in the right hand lane, but then ended up in the front of our car. When we pulled over to the side of the road to see what might have happened to the car we saw what we thought was smoke pouring out the front. Turns out it was steam, the deer wrecked our radiator.
Honestly we didn't know what to do. Who do we call and what is that number. We just stood there at the front of the car while huge trucks and cars roared by us. Dale told me to get into the grass, to get away from the car and the traffic. We could hardly hear each other for the traffic and wind. I decided that high grass was gross and so sat in the passenger seat with the door open while he paced in the grass.
We eventually called Michelle and Shelley from the Concordia Seminsary offices and they went to work from their end to get us some help. 40 minutes later a state policeman came along, took down our story and both our licenses and then called a towtruck. The truck came along after about 20 minutes.
It was a pretty old tow truck, but the driver was very nice. He suggested he haul our car and us up to the Willard Airport on the south edge of Champaign where we might find a few rental car agencies with cars to rent. And so it happened.
We found we would be able to rent a car and while Dale stood in that line for another 45 minutes, I unloaded our poor car and waited out on the airport's curb. The towtruck driver then took off with our car to Tolono where it will wait the insurance adjuster on Monday or Tuesday or ..
We were two hours late meeting Dale's brother and sister, but we had a good dinner. We feel sort of weird tonight, irritated we lost the car, but grateful the deer did not crash through our windshield after he was hit. Tomorrow, on to Arcadia Michigan.
Diane, I finally got my broadband modem up yesterday and today I got your sad news. Boy, that was frustrating! Hope you got a SUV rental to take all of your "stuff".
Ruth knows where Ferdie is. She had Corky there once.
Enjoy the rest of the trip.
Posted by: Mary | July 18, 2009 at 08:05 AM
St. Francis of Assisi here wants to know what happened to the deer.
Posted by: Mary | July 18, 2009 at 08:28 AM
Diane, You may have been smart to get back in the car, Dale looks like a 'chigger magnet' standing in the tall grass. Glad you are both OK.
Posted by: Dawn | July 18, 2009 at 09:16 AM
Wow. You were very fortunate to come out of that ok. As you well know, this could have been far worse for you both. Have a blessed vacation.
Posted by: Nancy | July 18, 2009 at 09:34 AM
Diane, I'm surprised you don't have AAA. One easy phone call in a situation like that.
Posted by: Rand | July 18, 2009 at 09:58 AM
Best part was the calamari and raw oysters at dinner. A cow that was sacrificed for D & D was the only four-legged casualty, other than the deer.
Posted by: KUKIMBIA | July 18, 2009 at 10:40 AM