Andrea’s Weblog

I don’t think I ever mentioned that last November we joined the mini-van club. We bought a Honda Odyssey when we realized that if Frank’s mom came out for the birth, we would have to take 2 cars everywhere because nobody could sit in the back of the Saab with the 2 carseats. Plus, there was no place for Finley.
This was my first new car EVER, and until Wednesday it didn’t have any scratches. The first scratch on a new car is somewhat of a milestone, but for me, it was a memorable event!

We were on the way to the La Leche League of GA annual conference. After spending the morning rushing around packing for our 5-day-trip, we girls were finally on the road. Both girls were asleep, I was sipping on my Starbucks decaf mocha, and we were 45 minutes into the 3 hour trip. Then BAM! Suddenly, a flash of tan and then I couldn’t see anything out the window. I pulled over the best I could and realized that a deer had come tearing across the road and hit the car. (Not something that crossed my mind at 2:30 in the afternoon.)

Glass was everywhere, a thin layer of sharp shards and powder covered the whole front seat and part of the back seats. I glanced back to check the girls then immediately dialed Frank. I shakily explained to him the situation and asked if I should call the police. Meanwhile several other “mini-van moms” stopped their cars to see if I was OK and were already on the phone with police. Frank decided to hop in the car and come to the scene (30 + minutes from his office).

I got out of the car to survey the damage. In order to get out, I had to ram the door open as it was bent up too much to open properly. Elizabeth had woken up from her nap, but Elena was still sound asleep blissfully unaware. Both girls stayed calmly in their carseats while I got out to talk to people. Soon a police car arrived and called a tow truck. I still had to wait for another trooper (a state trooper??) to take the official accident report. The tow truck arrived followed by the state trooper then Frank.

I had a car full of decorations for the conference and wasn’t sure how I was going to get them there without a mini-van. We loaded up into Frank’s car and headed to a rental car place only 10 miles away. It was amazing that there was a car rental so close and more amazing that they had a mini-van available. All we did was transfer the luggage, etc. to the other mini van and set off on our trip again, only 2 hours behind schedule! Oh, and Elena didn’t wake up until we were in the new mini-van.

The biggest issue was the glass that coated everything. I had it down my shirt, all over our food bag and the cloth diapers. It wasn’t chunks of glass that you would expect, it was sharp needles or hairs of glass about a cm long mixed with sharp points of glass. I’m still finding it in things. I was surprised to look at the pictures I took of the car because it shows the bag with about 4 tablespoons of glass inside was actually under another bag. Also, another bag which was on it’s side also had a bunch of glass inside.

I’m thankful that everyone was OK, and we were able to make it to the conference. It was surreal to be back on the road only 2 hours after hitting the deer. As my other LLL gals drove by on their way to the conference, they all gave reports on the status of the deer. It didn’t take long for the vultures to swarm! If we had a pick-up, I’m sure someone would have had her for dinner. The trooper said it was a large one.

The van will take about 2 days to fix and thankfully most of the damage is cosmetic. Until then, we’ll be back in the Saab.