Good Night, David Lee Roth, Wherever You Are

We were driving to Alameda this evening to take advantage of the Back To School sale at Mervyn's (that ended up taking advantage of us, as is usually the case), when I spotted a sign in a storefront: "Happy Trails - Unique Gifts." I had an immediate visceral memory from my freshman year in college. In Colorado Springs, stumbling distance from our freshman dorm, there was a head shop called "Happy Trails." When I got home, I did a quick search of Al Gore's Internet to see if I could find a listing for "Happy Trails" in Alameda or Colorado Springs.
Alas, there was no listing for the Springs, but Alameda popped up immediately. From their site: "The store began as an old furniture and collectibles store which quickly grew into northern CaliforniaÂ’s favorite place to buy American pop culture gifts, novelties and memorabilia."
Well, that's mighty quaint, but what if I want to buy unique gifts and, ahem, "smoking accessories?" Back in the early eighties, if you wanted to buy a Led Zeppelin tapestry, a black light, and a mighty-pistol-grip-death bong, you hitched your wagon and headed for Happy Trails. "Rock and roll your own with a wide variety of skins" we were urged by their radio ad. There were times that it seemed like they were the only advertisers on KILO-FM (subtle reference, no?).
I remember the smell, or the variety of odors available, beginning at the doorway with a wave of patchouli. This was no doubt a ploy to throw off the drug-sniffing dogs who would have been better served listening to the radio ads. There was hemp. There was the scent of freshly silk-screened Rush T-shirts. Clouds of assorted incense wafted through the aisles. There was plenty of "fresh air" being pushed through the air conditioning, primarily to compensate for the claustrophobic feeling of the shop itself. And over all of this hung the aroma of burning weeds. I never saw anybody smoke anything on the premises, but that must have been only because I didn't hang around long enough.
Years later, when I moved back to Boulder to further my education, I wandered into The Pipefitter, across the street from the University of Colorado. Grateful Dead shirts held sway, but theparaphenaliaa was there for all to see and examine. This was another time.
But no matter - back to Happy Trails: Maybe the same fate awaited the Colorado Springs store that came upon a shop in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1976, Roy Rogers caught wind of a string of stores using the name of his theme song to sell "pipes and other items looking suspiciously like drug paraphernalia." Roy threatened to shut them down, but succeeded in cutting their name in half, becoming "Trails" overnight.
And so I have my patchouli-scented memories of an age that has passed.
Who cares about the clouds when we're together?
Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather.
Happy trails to you, 'till we meet again.
Good night, David Lee Roth, wherever you are.