It was 12:30 (just after midnight) and we had 1 or two hours left for the night's drive to get to our hotel in Utah, just north of Salt Lake City. We were driving through the mountains in Utah, and there are no streetlights on the 75mph highway. We drove for a long time in the dark last night.
K said, "Can you open the sunroof for a minute and let some cold air in? I just want to make sure we're awake." I did, and put my fingers up into the cold air above the car one hand at a time. After a minute we closed the sunroof feeling revitalized and alert from the shock of cold air.
10 to 30 seconds later, K gasped loudly as we met this guy:
This is what it would have looked like in bright daylight. All of a sudden out of nowhere in the dark there was this deer standing in the middle of the highway, with it's rear half in our lane, right in front of me! I slammed on the breaks and though - "Deer in the headlights! Deer in the headlights? Deer freeze in headlights! Should I turn off my headlights? Should I stop honking?" Of course, I didn't have much time to do any of this as I was already reacting and we were only a few yards away from a rear-ending a dear - I think it was a doe. I know the dear looked at me, but noticing whether there were antlers or not wasn't my highest priority.
I slammed on the breaks, leaned on the horn, and started turning the wheel back and forth, trying to remember what to do while fishtailing. The 8 seconds after seeing the deer happened almost as follows (see disclaimer at end):
1:
K: "AAAAaaah"
J: Leaning on horn, slamming on breaks
2:
K: "AAAAaaah," bracing self
J: Leaning on horn, turning to the right.
3:
K: "AAAAaaah," eyes getting really wide
J: Still breaking, turning to the left, to correct fish-tailing
4:
K: "AAAAaaah"
J: Braking, turned right to correct fish-tailing again.
5:
K: "AAAAaaah"
J: Left again
6:
K: "Jesus, Jesus!"
J: Trying to figure out which way to turn - it's 12:30! Did I just turn left or right, which way to I turn to correct. I'm confused!
8:
Car stopped half on the shoulder, half on the median/ditch, surrounded by the smell of burnt rubber.
Ok, K didn't scream the whole time, she really just gasped loudly during second #1, but it was fun to write it this way :) So far, likely the most exiting 8 seconds of our trip. I'll let you know if we out-do that!
If K hadn't felt tired we wouldn't have opened the sunroof.
If we hadn't opened the sunroof, we wouldn't have be revitalized and more alert, and may not have handled the situation as well.
If there had been any other traffic, there could have been an accident.
God is good. Happy Thanksgiving.
I'm glad you're both alright and that God was watching over your drive!!! Hope you enjoy your time in Washington. Come back home safely!