I have done the 12 hour drive by myself, in 1 day, many times. It had been years since doin this. On this trip, I started the long drive both there and back, around 4:00 pm. That is not conducive to driving the whole way in 1 day.

For the drive home I didn’t have a set plan. If I had left just an hour or two earlier I probably would have done the drive all that day. I got a late start and somewhat thought I could muster up the energy to drive all the way home that night. The thought of my own home and my own bed practically gives me super powers. But I am a mere mortal, as evidenced by feeling sleepy behind the wheel well before I stopped for the night.

Lightning All Around

In Nebraska, there was a crazy storm. It was already dark out, no rain or anything at first, but I could see lightning in the distance, to the sides of me. That happened for a long time and I was totally stoked. I love storms, they make me happy. Eventually the lightning was happening a lot more and all around me. I thought to myself, “hm, should I be concerned?”. The answer was a little bit, yes.

It started pouring down rain and wind and I could hardly see. I used to think it was silly when people said they don’t like to drive at night but I don’t know if it’s because my eyes are getting older (or my headlights on my car that have never been quite bright enough), but I have a hard time seeing at night these days. Especially when driving 75 mph in a hell of a storm. It got so bad I decided to look for the spot I would camp for the night.

I was near the same campsite I stayed at on the trip out there. It was just a 20 minute drive. I got off the interstate and pulled off the road into a business’s driveway so I could double check the map and regroup. I thought it was odd the campsite was 20 minutes out of the way, I didn’t think it was that far from the route the first time I stayed there. Looking at the map it was a little bit East from where I was, essentially meaning I’d be backtracking. It wasn’t backtracking by much at all but it made me rethink staying there. Also I wasn’t tired yet, and it would mean I would have 6 whole hours to drive the next day. I was hoping to get closer to make my Tuesday as easy as possible.

Tough Decision

The rain calmed down a bit. It was coming down a lot, but not like the torrential downpour that it was before. I made the tough decision to move forth with the drive, I had multiple saved camp spots in my GPS. I still somewhat wanted to make the whole drive home that night if I was capable of it but told myself to be smart about it. The second I feel sleepy I need to go to the nearest spot and get some Zs. Well, too bad that happened 2 hours before the first spot. I passed some hotels and was close to getting a room, but Luna doesn’t sleep that well in hotels and that makes me not sleep that well.

Spooky Spot

I powered through and found our campsite. Before getting there, my GPS told me I reached the destination when I in fact, did not reach the destination. I looked around and saw nothing that resembled a nice park with campsites. It was a run down and industrial looking part of town. Not the sleep haven I had hoped… Dread came over me and I really hoped I didn’t have to drive far to find the actual location or perhaps be unable to find the place. Thank the Gods and Goddesses because I did find the spot and it wasn’t too far out of the way. My GPS coordinates were a little off.

At this campsite there were hardly any other people there and I got a spot close to the restroom wohoo! I got my car all set up and had some much needed sleep. The next morning we drove to get a coffee and drove through North Platte, NE to get back on I-80. For some reason I really like the vibe of North Platte. Do you ever go to a new place and for an indescribable reason, you just love it? That’s how I felt. I didn’t explore much since I wanted to get home asap, but I really loved something about North Platte 🤷🏼‍♀️

Back Pain…Gone?!

This could be it’s own blog post entirely but I don’t want to forget to write about this. My left-lower back has been hurting badly since July of 2023. I’ve done tons of PT, chiropractic and massage and the pain is still constant. When I started the trip, my lower back left and right side killed. It hurt so bad I felt and noticed it the entire 12 hour drive. Even though I camped in my car and didn’t get the best sleep for the entire 5 nights, my lower back pain let up. Now it’s been 4 days since I returned and it’s still better! I wonder if it’s from getting out of my normal “rut” of life. I’ve taken multiple trips since the pain began and it didn’t seem to improve then. When I returned and noticed my back was a lot better I rotated my mattress around hoping to prevent any groove in the spot where I sleep. The mattress I have does not have a groove in it that I can see where I always sleep but maybe it’s just not noticeable. Here’s to hoping my pain will stay away!