I am having some serious reading comprehension issues.

Where did I get rental from?

Let's try this again. I'd fix the car where the turkey incident happened.

It was a confusing post. I'm still not sure I understand the point of it.

I think the OP was a little shaken up because the inlaws were just in an accident that could have turned out a lot worse. His wife wasn't looking forward to doing a 7-hour round-trip drive, probably twice, that her parents had apparently pressured her into.

When life smashes a wild turkey on you, make turkey sandwiches.

(it doesn't really work as well as the lemon/lemonade one, does it)

emd, how about when life smashes a wild turkey on you, make Wild Turkey and water cocktails?

You could drive it home backwards....


<):)

"High class beverages" ....... like Old Turkey or Wild Grandad.

Drive it home backwards, I love it! I can't stop laughing at the thought of this, turkey feathers and all.

What Would I do? Drive it home backwards and then have a wild turkey hi-ball when I got home (I'd need it) along w/my turkey sandwich, while I was picking the turkey feathers out of my wind blown hair and the little chards of glass out of my behind...

:)) :)) :)) ~:> ~:> ~:>

(I know it's a chicken but it as close as I could get)

richbutnot, I am sincerely glad they weren't hurt. No insult intended here. This is pretty funny stuff and just what I needed today. And one question: Did the guy who stopped actually TAKE the dead turkey with him when he drove away??

Update!!! All are home safe now.

Yes, the guy that stopped actually took the turkey.

I suggested they drive home backwards too. They didn't think it was as funny as I did:)

They got to take the rental car to West Memphis, Arkansas where my wife met them. I don't know why they couldn't take it any further. It was Enterprise in a small town, so I assume they had a limited inventory.

We gently suggested they could trade the rental car at the Memphis airport and drive home, but we didn't push it because:
They were through a tramatic experience.
They are my wife's parents.
They would drive twice as far without giving it a second thought to get us if the roles were reversed.

The reason I posted, was to get everyone thinking about what they would do. My in-laws only travel to visit grandchildren and had no clue what to do. The first person they called was my wife who was 6 hours away (she heard the OnStar lady in the background). Like my wife could help.

We, like most people on this board, would have stayed until the car was fixed and found something to do in the mean time. But then, most of us here like to travel. But, as it turns out, repairs could take a week or more if they don't total it instead. It will need a new roof due to damage to the frame. The inside was completely covered with glass, even in my FIL's shoes that he was wearing!

I guess second option would be to rent a U-Haul and trailer and haul it back. Cheaper than having it towed and at least it's in your home town.

Of course emd!

It's the south and being Road Kill and all.......

richbutnot, I hope someday they get over the trauma and can laugh about this. And then you can read them this post and have a laugh. Well, being your wife's parents, maybe not.

It is amazing that a turkey can total a car (and a Yukon at that). This is definitely one for the "Fodors book of amazing but true travel stories"...

Seriously, what would I have done? First, call the insurance co. if I could reach them. Then depending on how far it was, maybe had it towed just so it would be close to home when it was fixed. Did their insurance cover towing? I think ours covers the first hundred miles and then covers a certain amt. per mile after that for towing. Or maybe that was AAA that covered that when we had this hapen to us (not the turkey part, just an out of town wreck). It is an expense but the expense of going back to get the car has to be weighed. We had to do this once, have the car towed from Delaware to VA. on a long holiday weekend. We were able to drive w/the tow truck driver. It was quite a cozy situation w/that tow truck driver and us in the front of the flat bed tow truck for a few hrs.

Alternatively, I would have possibly left the car to be fixed where it happened, but then how to get home? Of course, I'd call my wonderful daughter and son-in-law, if I had ones like you two.

Kudos for your wife for going to get them.

((Y)) ((Y)) ((Y)) =D> =D> =D>

But hopefully they have learned their lesson and next time a flying turkey hits them, they will have AAA, and rental car on the insurance policy.

Interesting point about all of us here enjoying travel - because if you travel enough, stuff happens - everything from missing a flight, to losing luggage to hitting a turkey. You deal with it, and sometimes end up with good experiences, though unplanned, and great stories.

Some people, like my mother, find they enjoy travel only if there is a huge safety net to guard against things like this - so they take only escorted tours. I think that is a huge part of the attraction of these things, especially for older and/or single people. It is not so much that they could not plan a trip themselves, it is that they want someone else to deal with it if something goes wrong.

Glad they made it home OK.

Have no idea if this will be helpful going forward, but my company uses a shuttle (?) service to move fleet vehicles around the country (from former employee to new employee). Perhaps there is such an option available to individuals and your in-laws could have the repaired car driven to them rather going back to retrieve it after repairs.

My last vehicle came from 4 states over.

I'm glad your in-laws are OK -- As a Tennessean, I am embarassed that the guy who should have stopped to help, instead stopped to steal the turkey that rightfully belonged to your in-laws. I hope he was from another state. TN passed a law just a few years ago stating that when you hit an animal, you have a right to take that animal home and eat it -- our famous "roadkill bill". Anyway, I would not have driven home 30mph without a windshield. Could lose your eyes that way.

Don't know if it is a law in Massachusetts or just local practice where we live, but when my husband had a roadway encounter with Bambi a mile from our house the first thing the officer asked him (after making sure he was OK) was did he want to keep the deer.

Being traumatized from a crash that could have been worse, and being non-hunting suburban people, we had no idea what to do with a dead deer, so we passed. Town has a roadkill list they maintain, and they called the next guy on the list to come and collect the deer. I tend to think this only applies to deer, since I see a lot of racoons and squirrels that no one seems in a hurry to collect.

I think your in-laws need a rematch. They could sell it on pay per view.... Mother in-law vs. Wild Turkey Live Match! You could pay for the rental and cost to get it all fixed!

8-)

The wild turkey thief probably made a bundle stuffing it and selling it on eBay.
((D))8-)

In a match with a wild turkey and my mother-in-law, the turkey would have lost.

I'm glad your inlaws are ok, though shaken from the accident. They could have been seriously injured or killed.

A couple of years ago I was driving down the interstate when a wild turkey started its flight. Weird to see, but I'm glad the bird was going parallel with the highway.

Someone with better math skills than me could figure this out. Driving a car at 65 mph (roughly) and hitting an approx. 20 bird, would be the equivalent of ?

For the rental car insurance bit, when I needed a rental after an accident, I wasn't allowed to take that car out of state. But when I was in the rental office, one person renting (paying herself) was planning on going to Virginia and needed directions for the best way there. I guess it depends on the policy.