I sort of have a plan. My grandmother wants me to come visit for a few days in June. So what I’m thinking is, I’ll fly to Denver on a Thursday and rent a car. Spend a couple days there and see my folks too. Then Saturday morning I’ll head south and drive down to Ranchos de Taos in New Mexico (it’s about a five-and-a-half hour drive) to see my friend Rob. He lives out there kind of in the middle of nowhere. Hang out in the desert for a few days. Then on Tuesday morning we’ll drive into Albuquerque. I lived there for about five years when I was growing up, 1978-1983. The MTV years, the cable TV years, the “Dallas” and “Tron” and birthday-parties-at-McDonald’s years. I haven’t visited since 1987. We’ll drive around Albuquerque for the day, hopefully have lunch at La Salida, and then that evening I’ll drop off the rental car and catch a flight back to Chicago.

It sounds exhausting in a way even just describing it. But fun. What do you think?