Angel Breath
Beads, Books, Design | by N.M. King
coast to coast in a Cooper [day 3]
We had a late start, but that didn’t end up being the biggest challenge yesterday.
The dogs have been doing great with the long days of travel, especially considering this is the first multi-day, long-hours road trip Ransom has ever experienced. Roxie has been through a couple already because of our move to Beulah, North Dakota, and back [to Washington] again a few years ago. But the farthest distance Ransom has experienced was the 10 minutes from my house to my sister’s when he was growing up.
But we’ve been stopping at Rest Areas to let them out for walks and such, and at a couple of the rest areas we’ve been able to play ball with Ransom. There was one in Montana and one in Wyoming especially where we were able to throw the ball so far he had the opportunity to run at full steam in order to catch it on the bounce. But even when we weren’t able to allow the two of them much more than brisk walks, they accepted it like a Boss and scrambled back into the Cooper without complaint.
Ransom had me a bit worried throughout the day because he wasn’t interested in eating before we left — neither was Roxie — and he wasn’t drinking very much either. Then, at the rest areas we noticed blood in his stool. I prayed over him last night as we made our way through the last leg of our journey and, thankfully, he and Roxie both ate their dinner last night and again this morning. They also drank plenty of water [and this time NOT out of the toilet–gross].
The most traumatic part to the journey was when my Mini had the misfortune to collide with a coyote desperately attempting to cross the interstate. It didn’t make it. The sharp crunch scared the dickens out of me, especially since I was reading aloud to Mike at the time and didn’t see it coming.
When we pulled over to survey the damage, I was relieved to discover both headlights were still intact. The poor coyote was struck by the front right portion of the bumper, putting a crack in it and completely shattering my left turn signal. Even the left fender is barely attached. So, my Cooper must needs go to the Mini doctor to get patched up, but I can only say “Thank God it wasn’t a deer.”
My Cooper is tough, but I don’t think much of anything can survive a collision with a deer at 35 mph to say nothing of 80 mph.
Once we contact the insurance company, we’ll find out if we’re going to spend some extra time here to get an estimate done, or just continue on to Raleigh, North Carolina, where we can drop it off at the Mini dealership for some TLC. A lot depends on what USAA tells us and how we choose to deal with the estimate (we can arrange one for ourselves or we can go to a USAA-approved shop).
Now, Mike is meeting with a friend for coffee and talk about old times and I’m patiently waiting with the dogs for my coffee. I made the assumption he would be going to Starbucks when I gave him my coffee order, but now I’m wondering if I should text him to verify that is actually where he met up with his friend. Being from Seattle, home of Starbucks, I always assume that’s where anyone goes for coffee…
Angel Breath 