Huey Lewis and the News

So it's my birthday right? The date isn't important, at least not for this day,...anyway, I'm having dinner with my parents and my awesome girlfriend Jessica who in fact arranged the dining experience and company for the occasion. During the meal she surprises me even further with two tickets to an upcoming concert with Chicago (Not a HUGE fan) and HUEY LEWIS. Yes, BIG fan (and I'm not Psycho-referencing that cool movie with Cristian Bale) and Jessica suggests I take my father. I guess she felt it was a way for her to give me something AND initiate an experience with my Dad we could remember (my Dad and I haven't done much father-son stuff, at least not just the two of us). Well, believe me we'll never forget.

So, at that time it was about a month away and all the while she kept the tickets safely in her posession and a week before she was kind enough to remind me to call my Dad and make sure he didn't have plans the following saturday. Ok, did that and that weekend came we were ready to go! We got all our stuff together, Oh I didnt mention, we live in El Paso and the concert was in Albuquerque so a ROAD TRIP had to be planned. Since we aren't rich, snacks had to be packed, gas money carefully calculated, new rear tires that were balding to make the trip safely, ect, ect.

Off we go! More father son time I guess. Now I've driven to Albuquerque before for the Harry Connick Jr. Concert Jess and I went to a couple years back so I know how to get there, but my Dad being the confident Road goer that he is decides to take another way. Suffice to say it wasn't the norm. By the time we reach the city he believes we cut through that will take us to where we need to go,uncertainty kicks in. It's been a healthy drive so far, but by then we pretty much said most of what can be said in terms of the back and forth. So, we stop at a Chevron in Alamagordo and ask the only two employees there where we need to go next. What do we get in response? "Oh, so sorry we're from Kansas." No Joke! The both of them to!

So, we stop at a rest stop with a gift shop and such at some point and finally the guy pretty much tells us that our choices are to keep going west but it'll mean were pretty much back tracking because we need to go North West, or go North East through the town and cut west again but it'll be further north where we need to be. Argh! We decide to go the latter and let me tell you those roads were long and baren! We didn't say to much except, "When's this road gonna end?" Meanwhile I was running low on snack size cheetos bags.

Okay, we finally get to Albuquerque and make it just on time to the concert, after having a bit of trouble locating an easily accessible gas station from the freeway we treck along to the concert that has us driving down and up this long winding road thru what looked like a development plot for a residential area. We see the parking lot and that's it , no cars. Knowing we weren't early I noticed the stage was in something of a pit, so over the crest had to be where all the folk were as well as the action.

We drove down and nothing but a truck and a lady sweeping. My Dad and I looked at each other and I yanked out the tickets,.....SUNDAY 7:30 PM ,.....NOT SATURDAY!!!

My fault for not reading the tickets before stuffing them in my pocket before leaving. Jess felt terrible and needless to say, my Dad wasn't in the mood to stick around. The trip back was painful (as we didn't stop for a bathroom break going or coming) and very quiet. Neither of us said much.

The next day Jess and I drove up there again and enjoyed Huey's tunes. I still wonder if she had that planned all along....