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On the road again? Have you programmed the iPod or dug out a vintage mix tape? Roam, if you want to, but whether it's a Paul Simon best-of or the latest Yeah Yeah Yeahs getting the whole family's heads bobbing or vintage Hank Williams to yodel to alone on some lost highway, the right tunes make the road a little less lonely.

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One of my favorite road moments came five years ago when I was scoping out venues for my impending move out West from Chicago.

It's hard to compete with southern California. I flew into the San Diego airport, rented a car and headed out on I-5 to Encinitas, less than an hour north.

It was March and I wasn't missing the gray chill of Chicago. I had sunshine and palm trees and glimpses of the ocean as I cruised at 70 mph. I imagined I could afford a convertible.

Just as I made the exit to Encinitas, Tom Petty kicked in on the classic rock station — "Free Fallin' " — and I was smitten. I could feel the grin leaving an imprint on my face.

Albuquerque won the lottery for me that year. I had passed through Albuquerque once before, in 1991 (again in March). An ex and I did a 12-day circuit from Chicago down to Memphis; across the Southwest; up through Nevada and California; and back straight across the heartland to Chicago. (By the way, the official slogan of Nebraska is "Nothin' to see here, folks. Move it along.")

When I got back, I made a tribute mix tape with these songs:

• "Head On," Jesus & Mary Chain

• "Memphis," Joe Jackson

• "Graceland," Paul Simon

(A lovely road-trip anthem.)

• "Tryin' to Get to You," Elvis Presley

• "Rock House," Flat Duo Jets

• "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys," Willie Nelson

• "Blue Shadows on the Trail," Syd Straw

(We had gone to the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.)

• "Thumbelina," the Pretenders

• "Been Caught Stealing," Jane's Addiction

• "Dizzy," Throwing Muses

("It's just that mean ol' Texas sun . . .")

• "Santa Fe," Bob Dylan (from his second bootleg collection)

• "The Happening," the Pixies

• "Heaven or Las Vegas," Cocteau Twins

(I had napped through a nasty storm on the way to Sin City and awoke to the most ethereal sky you could imagine. "We didn't die in a fiery crash while I was asleep, did we?" I asked.)

• "Straight to the Top (Vegas)," Tom Waits

• "Las Vegas," Steve Martin (stand-up routine)

• "When Somebody Loves You," Frank Sinatra

• "Nick Cave Dolls," Bongwater

(We had discovered the band's cassette at some tiny shop off I-40 west of Albuquerque.)

• "Gone at Last," Paul Simon

• "Goin' to California," Led Zeppelin

• "Head On," the Pixies.

(I really like that song.)

• "Red Red Wine," the Replacements

(Hello, Sonoma.)

• "Coyote," Rank & File

• "State Trooper," Bruce Springsteen

• "Police on My Back," the Clash

(I got a speeding ticket in Utah.)

• "Omaha," Golden Palominos

• "Letter to Memphis," the Pixies

(I really like the Pixies.)

• "Lost Highway," Hank Williams

• "Looking for Lewis and Clark," the Long Ryders

• "Wild Trip," Flat Duo Jets

• "The Thing," the Pixies

(No kidding about the Pixies. Can I date myself more?)

• "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," Tony Bennett

(We had honeymooned there five years earlier. This was a scratchy vinyl version from my parents' collection.)

• "Mystery Train," Elvis Presley

• "Half a World Away," R.E.M.

That era seems like it was half a lifetime away. In the end, I followed the sun and moved to Albuquerque. Women, sadly, have come and gone — "I'm a bad boy, 'cause I don't even miss her" - but I still have my road-trip cassette, if not a cassette deck in my car anymore.

"I'm gonna free-fall

Out into nothin'

Gonna leave this

World for a while.

And I'm free ..."