o deer

Raymond made it to the hotel we were staying at last night around 10:45.  We were glad to have him with us, safe and sound.  He drove 680 miles in one day to catch up with us.  We left in the rain this morning and suited up in our rain gear.  We rode a short distance on I-20 and then got off on 180-west at Weatherford, Texas.  As we drove into Weatherford we found that the big one-day Peach Festival was in full swing.  We stopped by a farmers market and bought a couple of watermelons, some cherries & blueberries and then got back on the road.  180-West was detoured because of the Peach Festival and can we just say that they didn't mark the detour very well.  In any case we made it back on the road after driving around Weatherford for a bit.  We rode in the rain for part of the day but the weather began to clear.  We stopped at a road side park and ate one of our watermelon for lunch.  I was thrilled to be off of the interstate and we enjoyed some fun & relaxing riding.  Our plan was to make it to Carlsbad National Park to watch the bats fly out of the cave this evening.  As we were riding along a small deer jumped out at us . . . Jim didn't want to deal with the little thing so he passed her off to me (just kidding of course . . . he would have gladly taken the hit instead of having me deal with it :) . . . the baby deer hit my left front engine guard, my left side board and gear shifter . . . and slammed into my left leg . . . OUCH!  Thankfully, I kept my eyes looking ahead and continued to move forward . . . and I didn't lose it.  The guys worked on my bike for a while as I sat hoping my leg was not hurt too badly.  They bent the engine guard forward and worked on the gear shifter until they fixed it enough that I could ride it.  We rode about 30 miles and reluctantly I decided I needed to stop for the night.  My leg is pretty swollen . . . and painful . . . hoping it will be much better tomorrow after a good nights sleep.  Jim reminded me that he's pretty sure we wouldn't have seen a deer on the interstate . . . . for those of you that are praying for us on our trip .  . . thanks!