We’re in Oakland, CA now and we have a show in Vacaville tomorrow. I think it’s near Napa Valley so I’m hoping to see some beautiful landscapes today.
We went to Jack London Square here in Oakland yesterday. It is a piece of waterfront property dedicated to Jack London (author of Call of the Wild, White Fang, etc). Apparently London and his family lived in Oakland for a time. We went down to the square for lunch and to see a movie since that is the only cinema in town. No one else seemed to care about it being Jack London Square, but then I again, I don’t think anyone else knew who Jack London was.
There were lots of piers, fountains, and statues all along the walkway. It was beautiful. There was a statue of Jack London with this quote beneath it: “I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.” I like that. Life is for the living. One of the biggest things I’ve learned this year is that there is a lot to do and see on this planet and there is a lot of life to be lived, but no one is going to do it for you. It can be risky, but it is extremely rewarding. Thanks Jack London!
While we were at the water, I also came across a ship known as a Rescue Lightship. Maybe you all know more about the Coast Guard than I, but I had never seen one before. A Lightship was used in inclement weather in places where it was too expensive or impractical to build a lighthouse but there was a danger that other sailors needed to know about. The top of both masts have large lenses and the boat would anchor at a certain spot and stay there as long as they needed to. It was a traveling lighthouse. I never knew those existed.
Today is another potentially boring day. We’re going to go get some lunch soon and then just kill time until we meet up with host families at 9. It’s weird that we have a show tomorrow it’s been close to 3 weeks since our last one I think.
2 thoughts on “A Day in Oakland with Jack London”
You are good at this. You say the funniest stuff.How did you make that pic on your profile?
Thanks! A lot of funny stuff happens out here so it’s pretty easy. I made the pic in Photoshop. I took that picture of our truck at the begining on the tour in PA. I cropped it out and put it on the background I made than drew the street signs and typed in them. The end.