I am not known to stretch things, except when it comes to driving. If I am feeling rested enough, I am not afraid to add an extra hour or two to the drive, especially if it means cutting down the next day’s drive and leaving more time for local activities. I planned to be up early, able to leave by 6:30 am or 7:00 am on Monday, April 18th, so I could make my goal of Lincoln, Nebraska around dinnertime. That is about 12½ hours of driving, per Google Maps. Not impossible. I’d done the western suburbs of Omaha before in a single day, and Lincoln was only 40 minutes beyond that. With enough sleep, no problem.
11pm the prior evening, yep, I’m nearly ready. Just one or two more things to pack and I’m off to bed. And a few more. And a couple tasks I forgot to take care of. 2:00am, I finally have to settle myself down in the recliner so I can relax. Nope. So, off to bed, uptight about not getting enough sleep.
I managed to leave the driveway by 7:36 am. On four hours of sleep.
It’s probably the first day excitement of a road trip that kept me awake. Back in August of 2014, I had driven from home, leaving at 5:23 am, stopping at the Logan airport in Boston to pick up a traveling companion, and arriving in Bangor, Maine at 12:22 am the following day. One minute short of 19 hours, stopping long enough to eat the two sandwiches I had brought with me (one in late morning, the other around dinnertime) and make a couple of pit stops at rest areas and gas stations.
That must have fueled me, because I arrived at the hotel in Lincoln at 6:38 pm local time, just two minutes over 12 hours of driving. And honestly, for having four hours of sleep and minimal caffeine, I managed to stay alert for the entire drive. I had a chicken pesto gnocchi dinner at JTK Cuisine & Cocktails in Lincoln’s historic Haymarket district, then headed back to the room to get some rest.