Lee's Big Adventure: Day One of trip

I drove just over 400 miles today, which is some sort of a record for me.  I started at about 9 am, and got a hotel room about 6 pm.  That averages out to about 45 miles per hour for the trip.  No land speed records there.  You could probably do better.

But, consider this: When I was taking Linda to Duke Hospital in Durham, Linda, who couldn't drive because of her health situation, insisted that I get someone else to assist me with the driving because she didn't trust me to be able to do it.  She was right to not trust me.   For most of our married life, Linda did most of the driving.  I was just too unreliable.   Fortunately, my good friend Steve would do most of the driving to Durham and back.  I just couldn't drive that far without dozing off.  In fact, I couldn't drive more than an hour or so.  The first time I drove the entire distance was when we were returning home, and Linda was going to Hospice.  My friend Frank, another Ham, drove most of our stuff from the apartment in his truck and I drove the car.  We yakked all the way on the radio, took frequent stops, and arrived home safely.  

I've been apprehensive about this trip to Maine.  I haven't driven a distance like that alone since the 70's, and even then I had to be careful to keep my mind occupied or risk falling asleep.

I got a new CPAP a while ago, and that has made a tremendous difference.  I've been using a CPAP for about 12 years, but had another sleep test a year ago.  My sleep apnea was worse than I thought. The new machine has helped tremendously.  I've also made some other lifestyle changes which have helped.

But, I was still concerned.  This trip really means a lot to me.  I've been looking forward to it since I signed up for it last December.  Because I am taking a bunch of woodworking tools, and will be staying in Maine for three months, flying was pretty much out of the question.  I had to drive.  

One of the things that I did was to take along a bunch of audio books.  I'm currently listening to "The Mongoliad," a book I read and enjoyed several years ago.  Occasionally I find my attention wandering, but mostly I'm keeping up with the story. 

Also, I stopped along the way many times.  In two cases I took naps for a half-hour or so.  Hence the poor average speed.

Additionally, as I noted, I have my radio beeping and booping at me as it broadcasts my position along the way.  Here's the track for today using the website aprs.fi  That's me N0SYS-9 in the upper right corner, and the blue line is my track.