I had not traveled the route in many many years. It immediately brought back memories of the early 80s visiting San Luis Obispo and the many people there who loved the band, Al Millan & The Robots. We were journeying down to see The Robots play again, some 40 years later.

We got lost shortly outside Gilroy though due to a detour to avoid construction along the 101. We soon found ourselves in the middle of nowhere, rolling down the middle of California in places I’d never seen and probably never would’ve. But it was beautiful and we had no choice but to cruise slowly through the windy roads and rolling hills.

Eventually we did arrive, and magically closer to the coast, in a small town called Los Osos. (“the bears” in Spanish, due to the abundance of grizzlies found in the area ages ago.) We got to visit with friends we hadn’t seen in years and walked along the coastline that felt reminiscent of our recent trip to Portugal’s Algarve.

With carved out caves and wind swept landscapes. We walked far enough to see the infamous, Diablo Canyon, nuclear power plant in the distance popping up through the fog. We were walking again with several of our friends and making new ones. So reminiscent of our recent walk along the Spanish coastal route of the Camino …and now in another world. A world where so many of us had evolved through the years, growing up along the West Coast, together.  If even intermittently.

It was in San Luis Obispo, a small hole in the wall café called the Dark Room, where the energy started and grew into historical nights so crazy and wild as the band would play relentlessly until closing time. It was pretty remarkable. Many of the bands fans and friends had come, all older obviously, but the energy of the Dark Room days was still apparent and now alive in Los Osos. The owner of the famed café was there too, Duane Inglish. He introduced the band and described their impactful and glorious run in SLO town and throughout the region, it was beautiful and brought tearful eyes to some.

The band kicked in and it was so much fun. I worked the entry to the outside gig along with Jon Freeman, like we probably did a few times years ago. We hugged old friends and welcomed new stragglers who just happened to be visiting the Merrymaker, one of California’s oldest dive bars. (for real!)

By coincidence I ran into pod-caster, Dive Bar Diva (Kimberly & her husband Boom Boom). She had stumbled upon the place as the band was just cranking up and asked who they were and I told her it was The Robots and members from Hawk Mountain. Plus birthdays for bassist Gary Steinmann and my brother, Al Millan. She was stoked, shot some video, and said she’d cover the band along with the Merrymaker in one of her future broadcasts. And she did: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1552620033266978

A local sax player, Scott Andrew, came on stage and play with them. He had never played with them before – ever, but he did an amazing job, and they played with an intensity of the early days of the Dark Room without a doubt! People danced and went nuts it was awesome!

They closed with a rare and lovely song, Soul Protection, from their 1982 album of the same name.

There was another song that stuck in my head days later…it wouldn’t go away. It felt like the entire journey from the early 1980’s to this weekend’s travels.  It went like this, and you can find it here: https://almillan.com/track/2036096/i-wish-i-had-a-subway

“I wish I had a subway from here to kingdom come.

I wish I had an airplane or a space shuttle.

Hey, I would rocket round the sun.

And I wish I lived in London, but slept in Paris France.

I wish I was in orbit somewhere around Saturn.

Hey I would like to take that chance.

Yes, you would see me take that chance.

It’s what I’m looking for.

It’s not too tough to see

You get enough for free

Hang on eternally, hey don’t be one to say good bye.

I had a cool companion, we drifted on for years

With wild reckless abandon, Hell, we rumbled without fear.

But now he’s up in Frisco with friends you don’t forget, you never forget.

He had a wife but that’s all over now, Hey there’s nothing really said

Oh and if there’s something more…

That’s what he’s looking for.

It’s not too tough to see

You get enough for free

Hang on eternally, Hey don’t be one to say good bye.

I’m traveling on my own now through towns I’ve never seen.

The words people are using; they don’t mean that much to me.

Still in unfamiliar faces I can see that inner glow.

And all the stranger places, that is where I want to go.

That’s where I want to go.

It’s what I’m looking for.

It’s not too tough to see

You get enough for free

Hang on eternally and don’t be one to say good bye.”

Al Millan / Deep Drop Music / ASCAP

Happy Birthday Al!

For more of Mark’s travel experiences, visit https://lifeintheclickstream.com/.