Sleeping in a Van (But Not Down by the River)

The 30 minute warning came in not too long after midnight (earlier than expected); Hans from van 1 called to say that Andy, their last runner, was probably 30 minutes away from the exchange.  That was the call to say "wake the hell up & get your butts in gear," although I doubt Hans used those words.  You never know, though!

So let me get you back up to speed.  You know we got to the high school; by the time we found a parking spot, and I had a chance to get to el bano, it was 9pm before trying to close my eyes.  4 of the van members were going to sleep outside.  Since I'm sure many of you know that I'm not likely to be sleeping outside, I opted to stay in the van.  Jessie and I both stayed inside.  I'll be honest: it was hard to get to sleep even for as tired as I knew I was.  Between noise outside the van, and the logistics of trying to sleep reasonably comfortably in a van, there were "distractions."  I laid the chenille blanket on a section of the floor and tried to lay on my side to sleep.  But I'm not a side sleeper, so that didn't work.  "Ok," I said to myself, "try sleeping on your back."  That would be excellent, but I'm not a back sleeper either.  Finally, I decided I had to take of my shoes.  (I was afraid my foofies would not want to get back in them, so I was trying to not take my shoes off until the relay was over.)  Once my shoes were off, I could roll onto my stomach, stretch my legs under the 2nd row of seats, and try to sleep that way.  At some point, I decided to sit up and check the clock.  It was midnight.  I'm guessing I got some sleep; it didn't feel like I laid there, awake, for 3 hours.  How much sleep I got, though, I do not know.

For those of you who "get" the title of this post, you know it's a Chris Farley skit from SNL.  If you want to check it out, here's a You Tube video.