Whenever I get a new car I take it on the Parley’s-East-Emigration Canyons Tour. It’s about a 25 mile (40 km) drive on roads ranging from I-80, a 6 lane divided highway with a 65 MPH (105 KPH) speed limit to a winding canyon road past homes tucked away in the trees, requiring one to slow down to 30 MPH (48 KPH). It’s a great way to learn the capabilities of a car.
And yesterday I learned the stopping capability of Lil’Blue. I was in Emigration canyon, the aforementioned winding canyon, travelling about 45 MPH (73 KPH) in an area between the pockets of houses in the canyon. It was dusk and out of nowhere, completely mesmerized by my headlights, appeared a deer. In the middle of the road. Mind you, this is not really rare here in Utah. The mountains are full of deer and it’s common to see them in the subdivisions at the foot of the mountains, especially in the winter when the deer come down to forage for food.
I’ve just never had the pleasure of seeing them right in front of my car when I traveling that fast. But, thanks to laser speed reflexes, good brakes and dry pavement, the front end of my car did not meet the side flank of that deer.
In the words of Holly, the deranged computer on Red Dwarf, “Even with an IQ of 6000, it’s brown trouser time.”
