Late Sunday we landed in Detroit Metro to conclude our second California trip in a little over a month. Hard to say when our pull to the Golden State began. My dad took me to San Francisco in 1964 to watch Barry Goldwater get nominated, and this 11-year-old was fascinated by the cable cars, architecture, terrain, Fisherman’s Wharf, the Golden Gate, the Bay, and the food. Hippies hadn’t come yet but I joined them in spirit a few years later. At every stage of my medical career, I applied to SF institutions, but the folks at UCSF and Stanford didn’t seem to want this Michigan boy as student, resident, or fellow. Kathy’s little brother Jimmy took his Ohio DeVry degree to Silicon Valley in the late 80s to land a job at Cognex for a career now entering its 4th decade. Of course, we stopped to see him when Kathy went to check out post-doc opportunities at UC Davis and UCLA. Fortunately, she chose to stay in Ann Arbor. Trips to the Bay area to see Jimmy and family were common. His 3 terrific kids were as close as Kathy and I were going to come to our own, so we treasured them. When I decided to take a sabbatical, I chose to spend it with my main ‘scopy buddy Ken at UCSD. So, we lived as natives through that frigid winter of 2017 (rarely over 60; the natives would apologize to us, between shivers). Revisiting La Jolla was such a pull, we looked seriously into buying a place out there. Of course, we wanted to be right on the water on Windnsea Beach, which pushes up the price somewhat. Our financial advisor finally pulled us off, stating we could only afford a California place if we sold our Ann Arbor house. Well, that’s not happening, so we rent. I reestablished connections with a couple of similarly twisted guys – both now practicing in the Bay area – with whom I’d served my residency time at Barnes Hospital.
So, the California Republic pulls on us in many ways. Our excuse for this year’s trip popped up last Fall, when Bill Kirchen announced he was pulling together all the living Lost Planet Airmen for yet another series of reunion concerts (1). Since I first saw them 4/17/71, I’m well into my second half-century of fandom. One show would be outside, at HopMonk Tavern in Novato, where we’d already seen the band twice before. Novato is just a half hour south of Petaluma, where my Barnes buddy Dave practices concierge after bolting from academic endocrinology at U Iowa. We’ve been including stops in Petaluma ever since Dave started inviting us to his “Safety Meetings”, held in the back room of his friend’s hardware store 5:15 PM every Friday (2). There, like minded guys (Kathy’s the only woman), gather to set right the ills of the world while nibbling on snacks and consuming various intoxicants. We haven’t taken to publishing our proceedings. Yet. Both Dave and I are very fond of Rajiv, our African American friend (born and raised in Kenya of Indian parents), who’s just retired from a practice in Walnut Creek, which Rajiv selected by looking at maps showing household income as well as density of rheumatologists. We’ve been inviting Rajiv to these meetings for several years, and he’s expressed his enthusiasm at being able to observe Caucasians in their natural environment but always comes up with an excuse.
So, we bought tickets on the spot and made arrangements for the trip, then long off. Per usual, we’d hang with the fam in Pescadaro, staying 15 miles away on the ocean in Half Moon Bay (3). We’d fly to San Diego and spend a few days on Windnsea Beach. Seemed like a plan till the young ‘uns stepped in. Jimmy has 3 kids, all home schooled and each college ready years before their peers. His oldest, Orion, was set to conclude his time as a banana slug, graduating with a degree in Geology from UC Santa Cruz. It wasn’t till April that details were settled, but his graduation wasn’t going to overlap with our concert, so we planned for a month earlier. That left a goodly portion of our previous plans superfluous, so we pared them down so our concert trip would be an over-and-back, in Friday and back Sunday.
That’s the trip from which we just returned. Since we made our plans on short notice, our usual haunts were booked. We stayed at a quirky little Petaluma hotel, the French-inspired Metro (4). They’d devised a clever way to expand their available lodging space on their tiny patch of ground. See here where we spent our two nights.
There were 2 other Airstreams on the premises. Each had a little poster attached. See ours. Let’s just say Kathy and I were comfortable. Morning’s fresh crepes and pour-over coffee enjoyed in the outdoor garden were a delight.
Wonders of Marin County were all around to experience, but since this was much a business trip for us, we stuck around to tend to those matters leading up to the Saturday afternoon concert. Kathy had brought a bunch of her children’s books. My book on the story of the band we were about to see was still in the hands of the publishers. I had 2 folders each with the most recent draft in case anyone was curious. I made up a couple dozen “teaser” bookmarks, with Kathy handed out to some curious old hippies as the concert came to a close. She sold almost all of her books, including some to Bill Kirchen’s wife Louise, who’s a grandmother after all.
The old hippies on the stage delivered a knockout performance. Guests Floyd Domino (Asleep at the Wheel’s original pianist, standing in for the late Commander) and Blackie Farrell (song writer and outlaw singer extraordinaire) taking things even higher.
Left to right: Floyd Domino (ex-Asleep at the Wheel), Dr. John Tichy (emeritus professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Rensselaer Polytech), Bill Kirchen (Titan of the Telecaster), Buffalo Bruce Barlow (on bass: the only Bay Area native in the band; he turned down an offer from Little Feat to stick with the Commander), Android E. Stein (fiddle & saxes, an eternal hot ticket on the NYC music scene; you heard him in the band on Prairie Home Companion for 10 years, movie too), and a missed name on pedal steel. LPA have been through a lot of pedal steel players, all capable. There’s a drummer back there, who also did a great job even if I’ve forgotten his name, too.
This is a special trip for Bill and Louise, as they lived in this area during the Commander’s heyday and were married in nearby Glen Allen in a magical ceremony 50 plus 2 years ago. Sure, it’s cooler here than in Austin Texas, but the draw is far deeper than that.
And no Bill Kirchen concert – Airmen or no – would be complete without his rendition of what was the the LPA’s signature song, their only “hit” by Billboard standards. Bill has taken the 1955 Charley Ryan song about that hot rod race to new heights with his guitar virtuoso embellishments (5). Dave has eclectic musical tastes like mine and knew all the songs the band sang. They’ll do it all again next year and I’ll be there for tickets as soon as they’re announced. Both Dave and I agree with the message from the first song of their set: “There’s a whole lotta things that I ain’t done, but I ain’t never had Too Much Fun.” (Austin ’74, videography added by the Commander years later: 6). Can’t stop us from trying! The band closed – before encores – with “Lost in the Ozone” (7), where I’m sure we all were by then. I was there when they recorded this track in ’71! Take me back!
References
1. Shapiro M. Bill Kirchen and Lost Planet Airmen take flight at 2 HopMonk concerts. The Press Democrat 7/2/25. https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/specialsections/bill-kirchen-lost-planet-airmen-hopmonk-tavern/
2. M.Maselli & Sons Hardware. https://www.maselliandsons.com
3. The Oceanfront Beach Villa. https://www.theoceanfronthotel.info
4. Metro Hotel & Café. https://www.metrolodging.com
5. palliazzer. Bill Kirchen – “Hot Rod Lincoln” in Washington D.C. *UPGRADED*. YouTube. https://youtu.be/gsLdufJePz0?si=DB0nSaRV7Erl9yIw
6. Commander Cody. Too Much Fun Live. YouTube https://youtu.be/J0jWv0lFqF0?si=vYtBKA6ZW2er89nJ
7. stiblair. Lost in the Ozone Again. Commander Cody – “Lost in the Ozone”. YouTube. https://youtu.be/heK8QjhWGag?si=UV8InODH2Qk0LZ89
Bob Ike's blog 
Dear Bob,I was most disappointed
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Bob, I forwarded your blog to my brother and his comment was ‘ Wow! He does write well’. I had talked to him about some of your pieces. My favorite of course was the one you wrote about a summer trip th
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