How About an Old Fashioned Sing-Along?

nce upon a time, in the town of Uvalde, Texas, there was a girl named Frances Octavia Smith. Married at 14, pregnant at 15, and abandoned at 17, she grew up to become an accomplished Big Band singer named Dale Evans.

In 1947, Dale married Roy Rogers; he became "King of the Cowboys," and she, "Queen of the West," and together the two appeared in over thirty Westerns, and on the long-running Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Show on television. Dale wrote the song "Happy Trails" in 1950, and Roy and Dale sang it each week to close the show.

When we bought Motel, we had long debates about changing the name to something less...well, "hokey." But many people found "Happy Trails" easy to remember, and as we tried more and more to inject some fun into the "hospitality business," we became more comfortable with the name—and the song....

Verse (rarely heard):

Some trails are happy ones,

Others are blue.

It's the way you ride the trail that counts,

Here's a happy one for you:

Refrain:

Happy trails to you, until we meet again.

Happy trails to you, keep smilin' until then.

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.

Our feeling about "Happy Trails" as a name for a motel is best typified by the rendition of "Happy Trails" done by Van Halen.

Recorded in 1982 on their album Diver Down, their version of "Happy Trails" is sweet and upbeat, joking and irreverent. Just like us. It reminds us of some advice we were once given: to take what you do very seriously, but never take yourself seriously at all!

At any rate, we thought you might like to hear the song. Besides Van Halen's wonderfully jocular adaptation, we have included two other versions as well: Dale and Roy's duet; and Roy, backed by what sounds like symphonic strings in a rather grandiose version, singing solo. Just click on the button below for the version you want to hear.

And we won't mind a bit if you find yourself singing along.

If you haven't been hearing Van Halen while you've been reading this, go here and download the free RealOne Player (look for the link to the free version, on the right-hand side of the page), then reload this page!