After Alaska, we planned to take a few days and go to the eastern side of the Sierra. We can’t backpack or sleep on the ground these days, but we arranged for a few stays in cabins here and there. Unfortunately, things took a turn.

Last Saturday when we left, we were about 4 hours on the road and almost to Sonora Pass. Out of nowhere a full grown buck -- complete with antlers -- leapt out of the woods and crashed into the driver’s side of the car. Paul was driving. The deer’s head came partly through the window, and also sheared off the side mirror and pretty much smashed most of the door and front fender. Lots of glass flew everywhere. The deer did not survive. As the ranger explained, a millisecond later and the deer’s antlers would have impaled Paul. Fortunately, he managed to escape with only minor lacerations and some bruises on his arm when the side mirror catapulted into the car. The car was still drivable, so we decided to limp home. But, with a missing window and 103 degree heat outside, it was a long drive home. We gave up the whole trip and cancelled all our hotel reservations. On Sunday, our friends offered to let us borrow their car, so we decided to “get back on the horse” (so to speak) and go to the mountains again. This time no deer or other unexpected surprises. We had a great time and saw a lot of wildflowers, although it was slightly different trip than we had planned.

This whole incident left us with thinking, well, really, do we need to have all this extra chaos added to everything that's already going on with us. Not unlike our cancers, sometimes things just drop out of the sky (or pop out of the forest as it were). But, we want to continue enjoying life as much as we can before the impending procedures and treatments starting up in mid-September. Even if it means taking a few risks.

Our insurance company declared our car a total loss, so now we’re needing to get another car... in order to take a few more trips. Hopefully with less drama.

Rock Creek, Eastern Sierra (August 1, 2017)