Exhaustion Day

It's been a long, long day today, in a couple of different ways. First of all, it takes some talent to make the three and a half hour drive from Gallup to Santa Rosa into a 10 hour day. David and I have that kind of talent. It's easy when take side trips to Los Alamos and Las Vegas, NM. I wanted to see the Main Gate at Los Alamos. David wanted a picture of Las Vegas without the casinos. I got what I wanted but by the time we got to Las Vegas it was dark and we couldn't find any really good signs.

So, having achieved on goal and failed at another, we headed across the low mountains that separate Las Vegas and Santa Fe from Santa Rosa, about an hour's drive. The last stretch was uneventful until we came to our stop for the night, the Super8 in Santa Rosa. There we received our best surprise of the day. The Super8 Motel room is exactly as advertised. It has two beds, standard height. It has a handicapped accessible washroom with proper safety bars, it has a roll in shower. The room is large, I can turn around easily. In fact it is more of a suite than a room, with two semi-separate sleeping areas.

After checking in, we went for dinner in a place which offers us even more surprise. a classic 50's diner on Route 66 called the Route 66 Diner, with all the 50's accouterments including counter stools where the backs spelled out ROUTE66, one character per stool. The menu offered Mexican and more traditional meals. I ate Mex; David at spaghetti.

The downside of the day, the part which cause some issues, had to do with me, unfortunately. I hit the wall today in terms of energy, both emotional and physical. We wanted to get as early a start as possible this morning, so David was up at 7:30 AM. He had his shower first, then I got up at 8:00 AM. It was tough for me to get dressed and do transfers thanks to overheight beds. Hotels just seem to think that overheight beds mean luxury. For me, they mean exhaustion.

By the time I was up, dressed, packed, and into the truck, it was nearly 10:00 AM. I was exhausted, really beat. My emotions were tapped out and all I wanted to do was sleep, so David drove all day today. It is the first day where my hands have not touched the wheel. In fact I slept most of the drive; I think David managed to capture some of my snorts and snoring on his Go Pro. I woke myself up several times with the noises I was making. I do not sleep well sitting up, not at all.

Even so, by the end of this day I was simply tired. The rest while David drove helped a lot. The ability to not have to decide anything, nor to have to get in and out of the truck, that helped too. While I am ready for bed, I think my exhaustion phase has eased. So tomorrow, it's off to Amarillo, then Lubbock, and maybe Abilene. We'll see how I do.