Deer v. Dodge Avenger - And The Winner Is:

Dodge Avenger - just barely!



We just got back from a week in California - drove Highway 1 up the coast from San Francisco to Portland, Oregon; the sob jumped off a small hillside right into the driver's side front fender and door about 20 miles south of Fort Bragg, CA. Fortunately we weren't in a smaller car or a convertible or he'd have landed in my lap. He was definitely a buck; couldn't count the points on him before he hobbled away but he had a substantial rack. Dodged half a dozen more deer on the road within 45 minutes after getting hit by this one. When I turned the Dodge back to Hertz at SFO on Saturday, the lady who checked me in said it was their 4th deer hit in two days - last one was a Corvette; deer landed on the hood and broke the front end. I never take the rental companies' CDW coverage; State Farm is covering this under my Comprehensive coverage (meaning I won't get charged for an accident as I would have had it been under Collision); and I charged the rental to my American Express card so they'll reimburse me for my deductible.

Trip notes: 1.) Highway 1 is amazing!! Like the toughest roads we've ever driven in Arkansas, but there were two days of it! Beautiful coastal views! Would make a terrific Mustang trip, but a little long. 2.) The Dodge was very quiet on the highway, and good pep - but, like every Dodge I've ever owned, suspension squeaked and rattled the whole trip. 3.) Drove one of the steepest streets in San Francisco - like going straight up! 4.) Portland's a beautiful town with great doughnuts! "The magic is in the hole." http://voodoodoughnut.com/index.php

Wow. You guys lucked out.

I've seen that VooDoo Doughnut place on TV. Pretty funky place. Portland is for that matter. Been to the west coast a couple times but always wanted to do a trip like this! Take some time to really check it out.

Ouch

wow, so the deer lived on!

Yep, I even went back a few minutes after impact and he was nowhere to be seen. I'm glad I wasn't on a motorcycle, either:

Wow that guy is lucky

That guy was a good bike rider. Excellent recovery after the impact.

He came in running but left limping!

I have seen a documentary on VooDoo Doughnuts on the Travel Channel. We need something like that around here. I am sorry but Daylight is just not cutting it on the morning pasteries.