Near Miss

My lovely wife were making our way home in the dark when a good sized moose (there really aren't any small ones) sauntered out of the woods and into the road. I stepped on the brakes and swerved to the soft shoulder. Missed it by about 25 feet. I'm glad I keep my brakes in top condition.

Unlike deer, the eyes of a moose don't reflect headlights. It doesn't help that their natural color blends in with everything -including night. All a driver can do is to keep alert to any moving patches of darkness. Sometimes the only warning is when the fog line is suddenly blocked from view.

There are areas where moose are more likely to be seen so extra care is taken approaching those areas. However, moose don't run on rails. They go wherever they want so could pop up anywhere. When the bugs are bad, they often come out to the roads where there are fewer insects.

Once we got home I discovered a 4.5 gallon jug of waste veggie oil had broken free and slide across the cabin of my camper van. It had sprung a small leak and several cups of oil had spread across the van floor. I poured the rest of the veggie into the van's veggie fuel tank and put off the clean up until morning.

One of the good things about a ambulance/camper conversion is that ambulances are designed to be hosed out. No doubt my van has seem much worse stuff than a veggie oil spill. A bit of Simple Green cleaner, a few buckets of hot water, and it was in pretty good shape. Pretty minor damage, considering how bad things would have been had the van hit that moose.

-Sixbears