An hour from the hotel in Billings, our destination for the night, at approximately 9:00 p.m., a deer jumped out in our path , giving me about 0.5 seconds to make a snap decision on my response. I chose to plow through, because we were traveling at a high rate of speed (80mph is posted as permissible on these rural stretches of I-90), acutely aware that to brake and swerve might risk a rollover.
It was the deer, or us.
My truck likely was totaled.
I had the presence of mind to pull off onto the next exit, which was a frontage road with very little traffic at that time of night.
As we assessed the extensive damage, we realized our trip was stalled, in every sense. The state trooper was called, as well as a flatbed tow.
Thankfully, though startled, no one was injured.
We had to backtrack to Livingston, MT, where we bedded down for the night, after having my inoperable truck locked up in the tow lot.
I now sit here in the hotel breakfast room, appealing to all who support our journey to Standing Rock for help with the rental of a vehicle, large enough to accommodate all the donations and gear being hauled to the Sioux camps near the shores of the Cannonball River in North Dakota.
I have comprehensive insurance coverage but insufficient funds to rent another covered truck or van.
We are stuck, until we can resolve this situation.
Further delay risks being immobilized by snow, due in later this week.
Can you help? Any amount is appreciated. Pooling our resources will put us back on the road.
Thank you for your generosity. Thank you for caring!
The Pebble 