Scenic Route with a Twist

Our only weekend plan was heading down to Platteville yesterday to see College Boy's "new" house he'll live in for the fall semester – and say goodbye, of course, before he heads off to Lincoln, Nebraska, this week for his summer internship. 

Since we had no time schedule, we decided to take the scenic route and take my car since it gets waaaaay better gas mileage than hubby's truck. So I cleaned the inside of the car, activated Sirius radio for the dead zone that is southeast Wisconsin, and we hit the road. 

We winded our way down through Amish country by Cashton and had my camera at the ready for photo opportunities. It was a pretty drive, but all I got for pictures was a variety of modes of transporation...

A crop duster in a cloudless sky...

A classic car on the curvy roads through hills and valleys...

And a super classic mode of getting around! 

Got to Carter's around 3 p.m. and his new digs are definitely an upgrade from the guy house he was in the last two years. Probably helps one of his roommates is female. No, not his girlfriend. Mom wouldn't go that far!

They just moved in this week. You can see Carter packs essentials together – his Nintendo 64 and first aid kit!

Had a really fun afternoon with all the kids. Grilled out of us in exchange for me bringing apple-snicker salad and a rhubarb dessert. Then the beer pong started. Two guys were beating everyone so they took on the old folks. When I sunk my first ball, I let out a cheer. And that was the only one. Ha. Haven't played in probably 25 years and Jim has never played. Still, he and Carter thought they might have a better chance with the father-son powers. Nope. Still fun, though!

Good time as always with our boy, his girlfriend, and their friends. Nice kids!

Said our goodbyes around 7 p.m. and hit the road. I was driving and took the straightforward route home, over to Madison area and up the interstate.

We were jamming to Sirius Radio stations so didn't know any news happening. We skirted around Madison as usual but when we were heading north and met several state troopers with lights flashing heading south, I told Jim to look online to see if maybe something was happening down there. It was. Big time. Non-peaceful protestors. Like a lot of cities this weekend. Uff da.

There wasn't much traffic so I was able to drive with my lights on bright and cruise along at 70+ mph. We were about 45 miles from home when a deer suddenly jumped out of the median ditch on my left and right in front of my car. Absolutely no time to stop. Just impact. Bam! Shaking car as I drove over the body. Then me pulling over to the side of the road. 

Jim got out of the passenger side and took a look. He told me to pull over further onto the side of the road, and said the car wouldn't be driveable. I wanted to see but I couldn't open my door. Plus it's not smart on the interstate. 

My first accident of any kind with me driving! My hands were shaking so I had Jim handle the calls to Sheriff's Department and they, in turn, got the tow truck for us. Tow truck actually beat the police officer, who said we were the fourth car-deer accident of his shift already, including one squad vs deer accident. Yikes. 

Since it was nearing 9:30 p.m., Jim's sister got the lucky call to come down to pick us up in Westfield. Got to ride in the tow truck (that's also a first) a few miles to Westfield. Mr. Tow said there's a pretty good chance the car is totaled, based on his vast experience. So we emptied out everything. Threw it all in the empty cooler. Luckily I had a lawn chair with, so I could sit on that during our parking lot wait while I thought about only enjoying our Sirius subscription for less than 12 hours!

So today, from what we can tell, we're not injured. Just a little sore. I guess we'll find out in the next few days if this is the end of Black Betty. Probably. On a positive note, if you're gonna total your car, do it during quarantine when you don't have a commute and you've got no place to go anyway!

Thank you, Lord!