Day 4. 3:23 a.m. Exhaustion.

Setting: The Lodge in Santa Fe, New Mexico (in a totally rustic cabin meets Native American motel room)

 New Mexico is my favorite state so far. You’ll have to drive through it at sunset to understand. It is an unforgettable sight, even while watching it through a rearview mirror and dirt-covered back window. I also found the moon to look much larger in New Mexico. I’m not an astrologist, I don’t know how. But it just does.

The blackberry snapshot doesn’t do it justice. What do you think?

Driving through New Mexico

So my plan was to arrive in Alberquerque, NM by 5 p.m. today, eat a hearty Mexican dinner and then drive north for an hour to Santa Fe, which is where I booked a hotel for the night. I left Sedona, AZ (my last stop), at noon today. And according to Mapquest, I should arrive in Alberquerque promptly at 5.

But then I got hungry and pulled over for food. Did you know a PB&J from a gas station has 740 calories?

Then I took the wrong highway out of Sedona which took me on a loop-around back to the right highway. It showed me more beautiful views of the red rocks, though.

And then I found a meteor crater.

Meteor Crater in Arizona

Yup. Things never go as planned.

I had to pay for all these stops I made eventually. It required me to drive, once again, in the dark for three hours. I arrived at my hotel past 9 p.m. again. Luckily I just had the song: Heartbreak World by Matt Nathanson on repeat for half the time which kept me upbeat and awake. (If you haven’t heard this song, you MUST. It’s the perfect song about moving from LA, following your dreams and driving ‘until the summer gives’)

By the way, now that I was driving over different time zones on the day of Daylight Savings, I’m all mixed up and have no idea what time it really is. My hotel clock says one time, while my laptop says something different, and then my car clock and two cell phones all don’t match either. I don’t know which are lying to me and which I need to change! Then my eyes and body are exhausted, while my mind says to keep going, so my internal clock is out of wack too. I mean, come on, it’s 3:52 a.m. (according to my laptop) or it could be 4:52 a.m. (according to WordPress), and I’m up writing.

I didn’t plan for sleep problems during the road trip, but I guess now I’ll have to. I don’t think I can drive 9 hours as planned tomorrow if I’m still in this condition. What a shame. My timing is no way near what I hoped it would be.

I also never had that Mexican meal. I actually mapquested a restaurant that was recommended to me before I left LA. Instead I had to eat McDonalds which has my stomach hurting still.  

Tomorrow (or today I should say), I will eat my Mexican brunch in Santa Fe, drive to Alberquerque and look around for an hour, and then head over toward Texas and Oklahoma. Ideally I wanted to be in Oklahoma City by tonight, but I can tell you know there is no way that’s happening. I will probably crash somewhere in the boonies in North Texas just before Oklahoma.

Before I go, I just want to thank all my readers, friends and family who are following me on this road trip. I am checking my blog stats religiously and I must say, I am very impressed that the numbers are going UP rather than down every day. The numbers are really impressive and I had no idea I knew that many people! It really brings up my spirits to know that people are keeping up with my writing — and hopefully (crosses fingers), just hopefully, sharing it with others too. All of this means the world to me and gives me the energy to keep going with my road trip.

Wish me luck on catching some sleep. Classical music in the background isn’t even doing the trick this time. If anyone is up reading this, please give me a call and recite me a bedtime story. Thanks.

With love,

Angie