Viva Las Vegas

Ok.....so far the trip has gone smashingly!
Here's the timeline:
9:15 - left home
9:30 - left home again after returning for a bag I had left (grrr)
10:00 - left WCHS (dropping stuff off) and Carl's Jr. (breakfast)
(So I'm counting 10:00 as my official "hit the road" time.)
1:15 - gassed up in Needles, CA
4:30 - gassed up and had dinner in Flagstaff, AZ
8:45 - gassed up and considered motel in Albuquerque, NM
(didn't want to pony up the $60+ and felt ok to drive some more)
10:45 - Las Vegas, NM: ok, now I'm tired....I cave in and shell out $50 for the "Budget Inn"
(oh, yeah, I'm in mountain time now, so it's really a few minutes past midnight as I write this.)

So.....I guess I made pretty good time. There was almost zero traffic, and I was averaging 80-85 mph. There were at least 8-10 times today where the highway went down to one lane on each side because of construction.....so I would inevitably get stuck behind a semi for a mile or two.

Best part of this trip: "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
I've done many, many, many road trips. And the ones where I was driving by myself, or just a really long turn at the wheel, has always been a vagabond-spirit of adventure tainted by boredom and tediousness. But this time, I had an audiobook downloaded from iTunes. I like the movie "I, Robot" and had considered reading the book for over a decade. The audiobook form was one man speaking for 8.5 hours! It sounded daunting to me as well.....but time flew by and I really enjoyed it!

So, it's late and I'm going to try and get 6-7 hours of sleep before hitting the road again.
I should hopefully make it to the Springs in one 4-hour-ish drive tomorrow. Yay!

BTW, here's a map of New Mexico to give you an idea of where Las Vegas, NM is (it's a little NE of Albuquerque)....and thanks to the "Budget Inn" for the free wifi access!
http://www.smart-traveler.info/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/map_of_new_mexico.gif