Oh Dear, Deer

We were zooming along Highway 97 at 65 mph right with the traffic, when two deer jumped in front of us, I managed to miss the first one, but couldn't avoid the second.  To give you the background,  leaving Salem this morning, we had stopped at Safeway to pick-up a custom made birthday cake for for grandson Bobby's sixth birthday.  We were to meet up with Bobby and his parents and other grandparents in Dunsmuir California at the Railroad Park Resort where we had RV reservations for Sunday and Monday. Our route was over the Willamette Pass with Thursday and Friday nights at Collier Memorial State Park with some birding with our friend Glenn, then on to Lake Juanita for Saturday night before arriving for the big birthday on Sunday.  That was the plan, put in place with days of planning and packing, but instantly changed with the thud of a deer to the front of our motor home. I pulled to the side of the highway to check and discovered the grill and right-hand head light demolished and fluid gushing out of the engine compartment.  Engine, air-conditioning, and transmission cooler radiators where all damaged.

The first call was made by Jeanette to our insurance company.  They said we had no collision insurance.  What!!! Hopefully this will be straightened out today.  The insurance company had no suggestions for a repair facility or towing company.  Klamath Falls was the closest town at 51 miles to the south of us, so we called Courtesy Auto & RV Center in Klamath Falls, they did not do body work but recommend Excel Auto Body and also Ace Towing.  An hour and a half later Ace Towing was hooking us up as in the above photo.

We are now parked at Excel Auto Body, shown in the lower photo.  Not bad, free parking and WiFi. We hope to get a rental car today, and by Monday be at the Railroad Park with birthday cake and presents.

Birding With Glenn

Jeanette & Glenn on Lagoon Boardwalk

A week with temperature forecast to 90 degrees in Salem caused us to block out our schedule and head to the coast.  Our friend Glenn was camped at Waxmyrtle Campground, so it was a no-brainer to start there.  Waxmyrtle is a Siuslaw National Forest Campground located on the Siltcoos River south of Florence.  We first met Glenn three years ago this month while we were volunteering in the Snowy Plover program and both camped at Waxmytle.  He, in turned, started volunteering here.  This past winter he stopped volunteering and started traveling, and we have literally spent the last six months catching up with him and birding.  In Arizona we met up at Davis Camp in Bullhead City in December, then Lake Havasu State Park, then Cattail Cove State Park, then Oxbow Campground. He spent the rest of the winter in Texas where we did not go, but when he got back to Oregon we spent a week birding in the Salem area, and later joined him camping and birding at Indian Ford Campground near Sisters.  We arrived here at Waxmytle Campground yesterday afternoon, and of course soon after getting set up we went birding.  The above photo was taken at Lagoon Campground, just accross the road from Waxmytle.  It's great to spend time together birding again.

Evening view of Siltcoos Estuary