the drive back

 yeah as exciting as it was to drive IN to the airport and then sleep there, I'd say the drive back was just as bad (good?). I got to the airport at 7:30 ish, and by the time I found economy parking, got the car working, figured out where I was going, got gas etc. it was 10 pm. 

which, if you will recall, would feel like midnight TO ME. but nope, time change. so 2026 was still two hours away, and home even farther.

a friend randomly offered to let me stay at her parents' house so I didn't have to drive past midnight. Just like when my uncles offered last time, I did consider it, but then it didn't work out because of my own birbishness and also the ups and downs of Travel. I think the Travel gods are just against me (or for me, and have a cursed sense of humor?)

so I started driving and by 11:30 I felt so tired I had to pull over and take a little nap. it was cold enough that I didn't nap very long - the car started warm but within the hour had dropped to uncomfortable temperatures so I woke up at 12:30 ish and kept driving. At that point I really didn't want to bother my friend, since I figured she had stayed up until 12 and then would go to bed, so I just kept going. 

It turned out that I could only drive for about 45 minutes before I'd get drowsy, so I just pulled over every 45 minutes and napped until the car got too cold, then got back up and kept driving. After the first nap I misplaced my glasses, so it was extra hard to keep my eyes open when there was nothing but blurry black and grey in front of me. The ADHD did Not Like That and kept checking out...

eventually, at around 4 am, I figured out that if I got behind another car and focused on their headlights, I could keep going much longer. So I drove the last two-ish hours tailing this one car (hopefully I didn't make them too uncomfortable or weird them out)...

then when I got to the apartments it was a whole thing trying to get the door code so I could actually get into the apartment. by this time it was 6:20 ish and not too cold! and at this point I'd been hazily driving so long that I didn't even feel that bad, I was just kinda used to it at this point? so I just looked up the door code on my laptop (not my phone because I had lost my phone about 10 minutes before) and went in and unpacked.

and I didn't really feel like sleeping? Like I was like "FINALLY I CAN SLEEP" but also the pace-y brain was like "no I don't want to lay in bed". I managed it though and slept two hours. it felt like eight.

 

other fun notes from the nightmare drive of doom:

- at some point I stopped bothering to turn the car off when I took naps. just parked in a gas station parking lot with the heat running and napped for an hour..

- put on my Character playlist. half the time the sleep-adled (IE very creative) brain was coming up with entire animatics to play along with the song. the other half the time I was fuming because a song came on that I liked a lot but now it's reminding me of Julian and I hate it.

- stopped by a gas station at like 4 in the morning, right before the homestretch. got food from their breakfast counter and it was pretty good for a $3 gas station taco. 

- also got a dark chocolate Lindor ball in the hopes that the caffeine would help me stay away. debatable whether it actually did?

- I should keep chocolate or cocoa powder or something in my car, so that if this happens again, I can keep myself awake. 

- yes I know I could have bought an energy drink. but frankly energy drinks scare me worse than alcohol or coffee and if I never drink one my whole life I don't think I'd be missing out.