We started out from The Hub around 9:30 this morning, and went south, down hwy 7 to Jasper, then over Ponca on 74. We took a short break at the Buffalo River access. There's a horse trail along the river and there were several people getting their horses ready to ride. The river is very low, almost dry in spots. We stopped again in St. Paul. It's not much more than a wide spot in the road. I think the small gas station/general store and a small elementary school is about all there is in town. There was a canopy set up on the edge of town and a few people were under it. They had a sign near the road that was asking people to sign a petition to make Madison County a "wet" county. From St. Paul we drove through Boston, and if you'd have blinked you'd have missed it. All I saw of Boston was a sign. Our route took us through Swain and Nail, then Deer, and back up to Jasper.
We were just about back to the motel, and when we came to the top of a ridge, out of the right ditch walked a Deer! John was in the lead and he hit the brakes pretty hard. The Deer stood in the road for a second, then ran off to the left. From my point of view, it looked like the Deer was just a few feet from getting hit. John said that it was probably 10 feet away from him when it moved out of the way. That would not have been a good thing! We got back to the motel and called it a day.
Tomorrow, we start our way back home.
I didn't get many pictures on our ride today. I'll try to get an FJR group photo tonight.
The Buffalo River, near Ponca. Looking upstream...
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I am glad the deer was spotted in time and didn't get too close. I've only been in that situation once as was able to spot it in time and luckily it ran back into the shrubbery.
ReplyDeleteCool picture of the bridge.
You're lucky. I had an antelope commit suicide by running out in front of me and my old Goldwing! It didn't end well at all.
DeleteWild life do have a way of getting your attention when on a bike.
ReplyDeleteYes they do! Especially standing in the road.
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