At the end of the construction season when the bad weather would hit Calgary Alberta, It became a ritual for me to jump into my car and head back to Stratford Ontario to visit family and friends. It is about 2200 miles which can take as little as 38 hours to drive if you boot it straight through. That's my preferred way to do it. Get her done. Put the hammer down and after about 14 hours, you'll be in or near Winnipeg. The first leg of the trip is pretty easy too because you cross the prairies which are flat and pretty boring. The next part is where it gets a little nerve wracking and exciting.
As soon as you get near Thunder Bay, you see the landscape change dramatically.It's like you're driving through the mountains. For hours and hours all you do is go up and down like a roller coaster ride. Wicked curves and turns included. Throw in a few inches of snow, some black ice, and -20 degree weather and it gets kind of hairy.
Then, the real problems begin. Moose. Everywhere. Great big 1200 pound moose walking out onto the road to lick the salt the sanders put down on the road. I was just an hour out, back on the road after stopping for dinner in Wawa when I came to a big curve, on a hill and saw him. At first all I saw was the dim glow frow his eyes as the headlights hit him. It was dark around 6 PM Dec. 8th. I tried to brake and go to the left around him, almost cleared him and then BANG! He decided not to run back in the bush on the right, Oh no. Now he decides to cross the road and go left. I was driving a big old car - a 1978 Olds "98" The moose went flying through my windshield, over the roof and landed on the side of the road. It was like hitting a brick wall. Stopped me dead.
One good thing about me is, I don't panic. First I got out and looked at the moose. The poor bugger must've broke his neck and was bleeding really badly. He huffed and took a few heavy breaths and then died. I really felt bad for Mr. Moose but, now, here I am stuck in the middle of absolute nowhere land. I got out a flashlight and saw that my front right fender was crushed right down onto the tire. Out with my jack and a block of wood and in about 10 minutes it was good enough to drive. Thank goodness the engine fired up as I got ready to get out of there. I placed a stick with a white tee shirt over the moose as a warning sign before I took off into the night.
About 30 miles down the road I found a small gas station just as they were turning the lights off. I called the police from here and taped cardboard over my smashed windshield. Bought a new headlight too and the police actually let me drive into the next big town - Sault Ste. Marie where I'd spend the night. The first thing I had to do was find a hospital though. With all of the excitement, I'd forgotten about the pain in my shoulder. The moose clipped me and my shoulder was partially dislocated. I found a comfy motel after leaving the hospital, then the nearest bar. One of the locals - a used car salesman kept me company, had a few drinks and told me about all of the aother accidents that've happened around there caused by moose on the road. I was number 31 in about 4 weeks.
The next day I called car dealers and junk yards everywhere looking for a new windshield. No luck. The only way I could get one was to have one shipped up from near Toronto and it wouldn't arrive until Tuesday. I re-taped and fixed my Olds up the best I could. The windshield had actually split in half, right down the center where the antennae inside it was. I had about 550 miles to go, people were expecting me that night for a welcome home party. Coming down the 400 hwy. doing 80 miles an hour in a beat up, blood covered, half-windshielded car sure turned a few heads. Especially the police. Luckily they were all on the other side of the highway catching speeders going north.
I made it to the party a few hours late, had a great time for a couple of months at home fishing and headed back to Calgary. I wondered if I'd recognize the exact spot where I'd hit the moose as I passed by. I began to calculate the miles from Wawa where it was but, it didn't take much effort. Just when I thought it was close, I spotted a huge new sign that must've just been erected. Couldn't miss it if you tried. It's about 12 feet long by 8 feet wide
DANGER MOOSE CROSSING 
NEXT 100 KM 
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