Yesterday I bit off more than I could chew but I survived. I sacrificed day 0 of my vacation to do a reading at a local bookstore cuz 1: It was a Saturday and I knew there was a bigger chance more people could go on a Saturday. And 2:There weren’t a lot of other options in August.

If I had not done the reading, I would have probably driven all the way to Denver starting sometime in the mid-morning. I would have enjoyed my normal morning routine and had no trouble packing and enjoyed all those wonderful first day road trip vibes. 

But nope. I was loaded with anxiety, running behind all day, packing like a crazy person with no ability to actually think through what I would need. I also didn’t sleep so I was so tired. It was ridiculous. 

I kept laying in my bed cuz I had no energy and then I’d get up to do the next thing on my list. And the list was long. Oh and did I mention the poetry reading? I had to practice for that. The whole morning was miserable. 

In the end I just started tossing things in bags and into the car with the hope it would make some sense when I reach my destination. Spoiler alert, I made it to north platte Nebraska and my first order of business after the free breakfast is hitting the Walmart Supercenter. 🙄

The reading went OK and like I said, I didn’t die. The turnout was good, I sold 7 books, and afterwords was invited by the other poets for pie at Market Basket next door to the bookstore. That was pretty valuable in and of itself. Networking in this business is just as vital as any other I suppose. 

But that put me behind schedule even more. I arrived home shortly after 4pm with a whole list of stuff to do before getting on the road. At least the pressure was off and despite how tired I was, I felt like a huge weight was lifted. I hate what public speaking does to me. 😬

I cracked through the list and headed to my first stop which was Lincoln to drop yet more stuff off with my darling daughter. I swear we’re going to need a Uhaul to move her out next spring. She also wanted me to take her to get food and I was hoping not to do that because of my time crunch and being so tired, 

However, at the end of the day I really had no deadline to make it to North Platte and I had to remind myself that these opportunities will become fewer and farther between as she gets older. So we went to get chicken fingers and fries and it was good. 

It was about 7pm when I got back on the road and I made it to North Platte by 10pm. I basically zoned out listening to podcasts going a reasonable 10 miles over the speed limit. Good times. 

When we finally got to my room I dumped the contents of my two backpacks on the coffee table and couch and opened my suitcase to see what kind of reorg and shopping was going to be required. Like I said, I’ll be hitting the Walmart before I head out to I80. 😜

But first…. Free breakfast and a nice hot shower. Winning!! 

Today it’s lots more driving but once I get to Denver, Jim will take over. Then it’s on to Moab. Our goal is to get there to see the sunset in one of the Canyonlands overlooks. 🤞 

Anyway, hopefully I’ll have some badass pictures to share tomorrow.

Cheers to day 0 and not dying!

~Miss SugarCookie