Motorhome Memories: Oh deer!!

Well, I was a day late typing yesterday’s post and I’m half a day early typing today’s. Kids are currently sleeping so I’m hanging out nearby since Max is on our bed in the back and Sophie is on the couch up front. Max fell asleep on the way home from the beach (he’s finally starting to fall asleep in the car, so that’s nice). I thought Sophie would have been out too but she stayed awake until we got here; after a snack and during a DVD though, she crashed out too. She probably couldn’t fall asleep in the car on the way back because she was anxious about seeing a deer…

The plan today was to head to the beach and around 10:30 or so we were ready to get out of here. Tom was going to take me and the kids, help us get situated, then come back from Grant & Bobbie but just as we were leaving someone else from the campground was heading to town so they decided to get a ride from them. So we’re cruising down the road and I’m checking the map on Tom’s iPhone to tell him when to turn when I hear “Oh no” and see white fur flying at eye level just as I register that the thump and brakes mean that we just hit something. Oh deer…

So we pull over and this SUV that was going the other way turns around and comes back. When we hit the deer it threw it into the air and it clipped the top rack off of the SUV; how’d you like to see a deer flying at you? He did a pretty good number on the front of the car but still drivable and nothing mechanical seemed to be affected. Sophie was a little traumatized for a while, on the verge of breaking down crying as she was trying to hide her head in her hands. She decided that she doesn’t like big deer right now, only little deer. See, she was afraid that the deer was going to come back and eat her. After she got over her fear of the deer, she was concerned for it, wondering if it was going to a deer hospital. Max had nothing to say on the topic.

Grant and Bobbie made friends with the SUV people who detoured to follow us to the beach to drop them off (they sent the other people on their way since we didn’t know how long we’d be on the side of the road). We did make it to Ludington Park Beach which was great. There was a nice breeze off of the water keeping us cool and the water was actually pretty warm – warmer than I’ve felt in the bay or Tawas this year. Sophie was in the water pretty much the whole time we were there – I couldn’t even coax her out for any of her favorite drinks or snacks. She is getting good at “diving” forward with her floaties on and swimming. Most of the time she just kicks but with a little reminding she can kick and paddle at the same time. I almost completed my rock art “2012” that I’ve been trying to make for 4 beach trips. I was on the last 2 when the tide rose up and took it away. So close…

Max alternated between crabby and content at the beach. He waded in the water for a bit and Tom got him out away from shore for a little while. He was very content picking up handfuls of mud and looking at it. I think he found it interesting because the sand is a much coarser grain up here so he could really look at the “giant” sand and marvel at the colors and shapes. Tom also dug him a hole by the water’s edge (which Max calls a puddle) so he had fun “jumping” in and out of that. Sophie did come to water’s edge for a little while to make “cities” up and down the shore.

Now we’re back here in the camper taking a late nap. Tom’s over at Grant & Bobbie’s probably itching to play some Bid 500 but it will probably have to wait to later. Hopefully his late nap will mean that Sophie will be ready to stay up tonight for a campfire. Just before she fell asleep last night she sat up and said “Oh no, we forgot to have a campfire!” Again, Max had no comment on the topic (but he’s always willing to stay up late, so that shouldn’t be a problem!)

My boys…