This is the final leg of this year’s version of my California Adventure. It started back in April with Beverly Hills and the Anaheim Angels, followed by a couple days in Santa Monica. We were back again in September to San Francisco and the Napa Valley. Next it was Disneyland’s California Adventure just a week ago and finally this trip to Santa Barbara for the College Cup soccer finale.

Yesterday’s stop in Santa Barbara was by no means glamorous, and certainly the town didn’t make me feel ”like a star.” I got there too late for any signs of a “blood orange sunset” and only briefly saw the “shiny sea.” I spent the night in my very first Motel 6 that seemed only a smell step-up from outdoor camping. No shampoo, shower head adjustment broken, cheap toilet paper, no lid on the toilet, threadbare towels, and thin walls. I want my Marriott! To make matters worse, our Alma Mater lost at soccer.

My college friends were just down the street at the Kimpton, so we wined and dined in their restaurant/bar. I was able to sneak back to my room under the cover of darkness without anyone seeing me. To make this particular California Adventure even seedier, I bought a half-pint of Maker’s Mark masked inside a paper bag. It helped take the chill-off in the stands and made me feel more collegiate than retired.

I literally stopped in my tracks on this morning’s run through some Santa Barbara neighborhoods. I was dumbfounded when the words to California (There Is No End to Love) by U2 blasted through my headphones:

Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara
Barbara, Santa Barbara
Barbara, Santa Barbara
Barbara, Santa Barbara
Barbara, Santa Barbara
Barbara, Santa Barbara
Barbara, Santa Barbara
Barbara, Santa Barbara
Barbara, Santa Barbara
Barbara, Santa Barbara


California


Then we fell into the shiny sea
The weight that drags your heart down
Well, that’s what took me
Where I need to be
Which is here, out on Zuma
Watching you cry like a baby
California, at the dawn
You thought would never come
But it did like it always does
All I know
And all I need to know
Is there is no
Yeah there is no end to love
I didn’t call you
Words can scare a thought away
Everyone’s a star in our town
It’s just your light gets dimmer
If you have to stay
In your bedroom, in a mirror
Watching yourself cry like a baby
California, blood orange sunset
Brings you to your knees
I’ve seen for myself
There’s no end to grief
That’s how I know
That’s how I know
And why I need to know
That there is no
Yeah, there is no end to love
All I know and all I need to know
Is there is no
Yeah, there is no end to love
Barbara, Barbara
There is no end to love
Oh oh-oh all I know and all I need to know
Is there is no
Yeah, there is no end to love, whoa oh oh oh
We come and go
But stolen days you don’t give back
Stolen days are just enough

Songwriters: Adam Clayton / Dave Evans / Larry Mullen / Paul David Hewson

I didn’t even know I had it on my playlist, and thought I had picked-up a Santa Barbara radio station. As “Santa Barbara” repeated over-and-over you can imagine the initial confusion, quickly followed by a smile at the shear coincidence of it playing while I was in town. Maybe Siri had an unexplained influence? I had never paid attention to it being on there before and don’t remember even purchasing it. The sun was shining and I kept on running.

The song is really “California Dreamin’” Bono-style; from his unique perspective as an Irishman. The Mamas & The Papas along with the Beach Boys each inspired my first impressions of California. As a result, I was drawn to do the long drive to L.A. as a teenager without the permission of my parents. Six decades later, I’ve been back four times this year alone. More visits will undoubtedly follow as my wife’s daughter soon moves to San Francisco.