I've Had Better Days...

[dbegley]

Some years ago when I was relocating to MN, I was driving my 68 Shelby GT350 through Chicago. My girl friend was driving my other car. We timed it to be in Chicago during the middle of the day assuming that was a better time to be there, if there ever is a better time to drive through Chicago on the Express ways. Traffic is heavy. I am following a pickup truck pulling a horse trailer. My girl friend is behind me. Bumper to bumper traffic. I notice that the surrey cart on top of the horse trailer is lifting up in the wind. It moves up once, twice, OMG that cart is going to come off the trailer and I am right behind it. Can't go left or right. Can't slam on the brakes. On the third lift it came off the trailer and lands in the lane to my right. Directly in front of a car whose driver probably had no idea of what was coming. No idea what happened after that. Traffic was moving at 50+ MPH. When we reached the next gas stop my girlfriend saw the whole thing and told me how lucky we were and how unlucky that guy in the right lane was.

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[dbegley]

I was reading some of the other posts. If you drive on the streets and highways you have stories and probably close calls. I use to be a sales rep, road warrior. I had a Merkur X4rti and going cross country. I was following a semi pulling a trailer. I do not follow semi trucks, not safe thing to do. As soon as I could get in the left lane I downshifted and hit the accelerator to pass the semi and trailer. When I got beside the trailer I heard a loud BANG. Scared the crap out of me. It was one of the trailer's tires blowing out and coming apart. I was past it in a second but could see pieces and parts flying out, no doubt much of it going where I just was, behind that trailer.
Might a well tell this story about my Merkur. I was traveling across MO for work. There was a dip on a stretch of highway that was exactly a mile from crest to crest. Been there a few times. So as usual I had the pedal to the floor to see how fast I could go when I hit that next crest. Flying low I crested that rise and on the other side were three of the LARGEST birds I had ever seen picking at some dead animal in the highway. I must have been doing 130 MPH. (turbocharged 4) NO time to do anything fancy especially at that speed. I hit the horn and headed straight at them. Some how we all missed each other and the dead animal. Those birds looked like they were 5 feet tall. Some kind of really large carrion eating bird. Probably weren't that large but they sure looked like it as I was bearing down on them. That was a lesson learned. Well, then there was the deer heard....