So heading out to western Kansas we got a little Thanksgiving surprise on U.S. Highway 281 near the geographic center of the United States, no less.
As I told the story to friends in emails after the fact: We were about 15 miles from our destination, around 9 p.m. on Tuesday. The night was pitch black, except for a blanket of crystal-clear, twinkling stars overhead. We were rolling along at 65 m.p.h., listening to “Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone.”
Looks like the Grand Marquis won this one.
For several miles we had been the solitary vehicle on a stretch of two-lane blacktop between Osborne and Smith Center (of “Home on the Range” fame and also home to the Redmen, one of the most victorious high school football teams in the nation, as noted by The New York Times and others).
All of a sudden BAM!!!!!! It felt like slow-mo, but it happened very fast — a big buck deer jumped out of the culvert and ran across the highway into the driver’s side door. John was driving. The deer knocked out the glass in John’s window, cracked up the windshield (but didn’t break it out) and flopped along the side of the car, leaving dents in all four panels.
Thankfully John kept the car on the highway, and covered the side of his face (fearing antlers!), so we were all JUST FINE! So we had much to be thankful for. Now our car is in a body shop in Osborne, along with 10 other cars awaiting repair for the same reason.
Deer must be the number one cause of death in western Kansas. They are everywhere and can’t be escaped.
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