I always knew that there would be days like these.  A couple of days ago I found myself in heavy traffic outside of Cleveland, playing tag with 18 wheelers, and hardly able to keep my eyes open.  It was getting dangerous.  I pulled over at a truck stop and slept in the back for an hour or so, but that didn’t seem to help me much when I got back on the road.

The next day was slightly better because I remembered to use light signals with the truckers, and they worked well with me after that.  I’m not sure why I forgot about this, but perhaps because there are so few major highways in Australia, and I drove interstate so rarely, or maybe they’re not used there, I’m not sure.  If you’ve done much driving in the US, you probably recognize them:

• Two headlight flashes oncoming = cops ahead
• Three headlight flashes oncoming = road hazard ahead
• Two headlight flashes behind = lane is clear for you
• One headlight flash behind = please clear the lane
• Hazard lights flashed several times = traffic stopping rapidly ahead
• Hazard lights on steady = below 40 mph
• Trailer lights flashed several times (truck) = thank you
• Signal lights flashed alternately (car) = thank you
• Etc

It really makes life a lot easier, especially on hilly highways where fully laden trucks tend to barrel downhill in order to get a run up the next one as far as possible.  And of course because they sit up so high and have CB radios, the truckers tend to know what’s ahead, so it makes life a lot easier when you work with them.

But in spite of this, I was still tired.  Exhausted really.  Not so much mentally, as just physically really strung out, and not wanting to do this any more.  It’s not surprising when you realize that I’ve been on the road for almost five weeks now, and before that I was working hard for a couple of months to make plans, get packed up and into storage, sell the house, wrap up the job, make travel arrangements, say my goodbyes, and then in the US to get the FJ and get it fitted out.  I think I’m like this with a lot of things in my life – I have a lot of stamina and can keep working for a long time, until suddenly, and without warning… I just can’t.

So I’ve taken a few days rest at the Maumee State Park Beach in Toledo, OH, on the shores of Lake Erie.  I stayed in one place for several days, slept long hours, in my tent instead of the FJ, napped on the beach, ate well, read a lot, and also did some laundry and restocking of supplies.  Didn’t think at all about traveling.

I drank some of the apple whiskey that I got in the duty free shop in Canada, and smoked a mild cigarillo, while watching the evening breeze in the aspen trees behind my tent site.  This is the way to relax!

And yay, it worked!  I’m feeling much more rested and able to go on now.  I might try to slow the pace a bit from now on too, since it’s not a race or a job, after all.  And although I want to see the big things in the US, I also want to have the opportunity to experience life in each region as well, which I can only do by slaying there a while and getting to know people.

So, all’s good.  Full speed ahead!… Or maybe half speed! 🙂