So, I have often believed that my promptings come through my feelings. I also have issues with driving in the snow especially at night. Well, Shane wanted to dive North to help process some meat. He wanted to leave Friday night after the school carnival. The kids wanted to go too. The original plan was I was going to stay home and he would take the kids in the car. Well, I felt sick to my stomach. Shane was trying to make me go. I hate the drive with a passion. It is six hours of torture for me. It is not an easy road to travel especially in the winter. It is only neat when the northern lights are out- rare occasion when the sky is clear. Anyway, as I was trying my best to control my stomach, Shane finally asked if I would be willing to go if we slept for a few hours. I immediately felt a little better. We would be taking the van. Well, we over slept by an hour. We finally hit the road and forgot something. We looped back, now hour and a half behind. The weather and the road sucked! I was worried about one big hill 2.5 hours into the trip. We made it. Not 5 minutes later, where we normally pull over to sleep when we are tired (where all the snow machiners play) Shane slowed down due to the caribou sign. What sign? I only see moose signs up here. Anyway, Shane yelled hold on... I looked up to caribou in the road. In my infinite wisdom, I threw a blanket up to cover the kids and me from glass. Bam... I don't really remember the impact. I remember the horror of realization...why did the caribou not go through the windshield? Holy Crap! I immediately started to freak out. Shane got out to look at the van. We flagged down a truck. We both turned around. We found the crash site. (Today in church we talked about taking care of God's animals. This was not one of those moments. However, we did feed some families though.) Anyway, we hit 3. We killed a family. Two big ones, and one little one. Not a good moment for me. The biggest one, which Shane said was the female (again, not a good thing to know) was fighting for her life. The man in the truck got his gun out and came over. Immediate freak out! I yelled for the kids to cover their ears and close their eyes. I covered them up with a blanket. I should have followed my own advise. Stupid, stupid, stupid... I watched as the man shot the caribou three times. Each time, it yelled and kicked its feet. It was kicking the van. He finally pulled the caribou over to the side snow bank. I lost it! That was worse than hitting them. As I cried, reality really hit. Two families could have been lost that night. If the car had been driven, I would have lost my family. I prayed and prayed and prayed. Thank you for our lives! I am so sorry for the caribou. It was hard to explain to Sarah why mom was losing it! Damage: two broken mirrors, lost head light, damaged frame, 3 caribou. We reported it in the next town. On the bright side, families would be fed. We also found out, earlier in the night, a fatal crash happened in the same spot...hence, another opportunity to have lost my family. I am thankful for promptings! My husband is learning to trust my feelings. I know how much he hates to when it comes to traveling. Oh, and for those of you who wonder why we didn't put a caribou in the back of the van, it is against the law. We got pulled over a few miles later. I am glad we didn't put one in the van. It is amazing to look at the van. It doesn't look like we hit three caribou at the same time. The van is considered total. We are now looking for a new vehicle.
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