Now I've completely lost my mind...

Tomorrow morning, I'm driving up to Chicago to stop at the Indian Embassy to pick up my visa for a trip to India. I'm currently at my parents' house in Lewistown, where I spent Thanksgiving. The drive from here to Chicago is typically a three-hour tour, but -- and there's always a but when you're travelling with me -- I first have to drive out of my way to my apartment in Newman to pick up my passport. This will add... about two extra hours to the journey all because I wasn't attentive enough to pick it up as I left on Wednesday. Ah well, as long as I find some coffee early on the trip I'll be OK.

So -- India. Wow. This is the exclamation point to a sincerely crazy 2005 for me, a year-long excursion that started on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, took me to my four-month home in the Mojave Desert of California, and then saw me off to places like Seattle and Missoula and Houston and Boston and DC and Japan. Now -- India.

My itinerary looks something like this... and this is a very rough sketch since I'd rather be in bed right now...

1. Wed Dec 28: Chicago to New Delhi
2. Thurs Dec 29: Chicago to New Delhi
3. Fri Dec 30: New Delhi
4. Sat Dec 31: Rajasthan
5. Sun Jan 1: Rajasthan
6. Mon Jan 2: Rajasthan
7. Tues Jan 3: Ambala
8. Wed Jan 4: Shimla
9. Thurs Jan 5: Shimla
10. Fri Jan 6: Ambala to Allahabad
11. Sat Jan 7: Allahabad
12. Sun Jan 8: Allahabad to Kolkata
13. Mon Jan 9: Kolkata
14. Tues Jan 10: Kolkata
15. Wed Jan 11: Kolkata
16. Thurs Jan 12: Kolkata to Mumbai
17. Fri Jan 13: Kolkata to Mumbai
18. Sat Jan 14: Mumbai
19. Sun Jan 15: Mumbai
20. Mon Jan 16: Mumbai to New Delhi
21. Tues Jan 17: New Delhi
22. Wed Jan 18: New Delhi to Chicago

I'll have to go into more detail some other time, but not tonight. I need some rest before heading off on my visa adventure tomorrow. It feels so funny to have $150 in cash in my pocket--checks and credit cards are not allowed for the visa purchase. Off to bed... and we'll see if my Indian friends have any comments for me when I check back in here.