Friday, June 29, 2018

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.


2 comments:

  1. That is what you call a major detour. Lee

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  2. Yep, it's really a helpless feeling to watch all the coolant gush out on the ground and realize you can't possibly drive at all.

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