So I’ve stopped at a Travelodge in Flagstaff, Arizona because my friend Aaron told me it’s an pretty nice place to stay as a mid-trip layover.
Except on weekends.
There was only one room available (the ‘Snow Bowl Suite’, whatever that means), and it is $149 for the night. I was sorta hoping $50-70. Damn. Apparently I’m at the south entrance of the Grand Canyon, so it’s a huge tourist mecca, and the Arizona Cardinals play here on the weekends. Just…. peachy. So what does that mean for me? Jacked up weekend rates at all the nearby motels. Awesome. Mad props, Aaron. Mad props.
But that’s been the only negative so far. The drive is, suffice it to say, pretty arduous. I started at approximately 7 pm from Oklahoma and ran into a surprising amount of traffic, and since my goal for the entire trip was not to get a ticket (successful so far), I had to follow that stupid 65 mph nighttime speed limit throughout Texas. That definitely slowed me down a good deal, even though I cheated at going 74 mph.
Once I hit New Mexico, salvation! The speed limit is 75! Which means what? That’s right, say it with me– 85! Okay fine I didn’t book it at 85 throughout NM but I was around 80-83 the entire way. And then 5 am hit. And boy howdy did I get drowsy. I kept Twittering messages to keep myself occupied throughout the night, but at this point I was so exhausted I just couldn’t continue. So just outside of Albuquerque, there was a pretty big gas station/rv camper rest area that was well lit. I pulled over and took a nap for a few hours, and left for Flagstaff, Arizona. I got here a little while ago I checked in and plugged my iMac in. (Seriously folks, it took two minutes since they have wireless here.)
Now I’m gonna go out, get some food, come back and sleep until whenever. I’ll probably hit the road again and maybe midnight or a little after so that I can get to Los Angeles on Sunday morning when the traffic should be a little lighter.
Talk…… later.