deer

I’ve been driving back and forth from Seward to Lincoln for nearly 12 years. Something like 2,500 times. Yesterday was the second worst fog ever. The worst fog ever was just a few months ago, but I don’t want to talk about that one.

Lauren checks the weather in the mornings and yesterday she said that it was foggy. I asked how foggy and she said that there was zero visibility. It turns out that zero is a relative term. There was actually a little less fog than a few months ago, but, as if to make up for it, everything was covered with a thin coating of ice. Luckily, the ice was only bad in Seward. Once I got out on the highway it was back to just fog.

A few months ago during the worst fog (okay, it turns out I do want to talk about the worst fog), I was the second person in the line of cars that looked like it stretched over half a mile behind us. The person in the lead set our speed at about 35 miles per hour (speed limit here is 60) and that was fine with me.  During the 20 mile trip to Lincoln, only two people tried to pass us, and I only had to drive on the side of the road so that the guy who tried to pass us could avoid a head on collision once.  About a mile later we passed one three car pileup at an intersection (emergency vehicles had already arrived).

It was nerve wracking, but I wasn’t in front. I had very little responsibility. Yesterday, I was the lead driver.  That was much worse. Should I go 35mph? 45mhp? 65 until I caught up to the next car, and then it could be his problem? Well, the fog wasn’t as bad as last time, so I fluxuate around 45mph. A little faster when I thought I could see a little further and slower when I hadn’t seen any other cars in a while (is there a 70 car pileup ahead of me?).

Once again, two people passed us and sped off into the night. Only one almost ran head on into another car.  But what really scared me were the deer. I saw 5 deer yesterday on the road. There were probably more on the side of the road egging them on, but the fog was too thick to see them.

You know how everything is very quiet in the fog? I think they just didn’t hear the cars. First there were two deer in the other lane. They were just standing there when I drove past.  They really didn’t look like they were going anywhere (see honey badger). Just standing in the other lane.

I don’t think I would have seen the second group of three except there was a car coming the other way and they were just barely discernible in the space between our cars where our headlights gave up to the fog.  I was actually quite a bit further away from this set of deer, but they shook me up more. Seeing two deer is out of the ordinary (that only happens every few months). Barely seeing 5 in one morning is a little ridiculous.  Right after I saw the second set of deer, the second idiot passed me.

The photos are from the trip home. Visibility: 1/4 mile.