Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[JCZ]

Terrie and I recently watched a documentary about Jack London, his life and his home in Glen Ellen.  The literary crowd will recognize the name immediatly for those that don't read so much......he is America's most read writer.  At one time during the peak of his worldly travels and writing, he was the highest paid writer and most read writer in the world.....said to still be the most read writer in America.  

http://www.getyourwordsworth.com/WORDSWORTH-JackLondon.html

He wrote well over 100 books some with titles that most will recognize.  From wikipedia......  "John Griffith "Jack" London (born John Griffith Chaney,[1] January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916)[2][3][4][5] was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone.[6] He is best remembered as the author of Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life".[citation needed] He also wrote of the South Pacific in such stories as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The Heathen", and of the San Francisco Bay area in The Sea Wolf.

London was a passionate advocate of unionization, socialism, and the rights of workers and wrote several powerful works dealing with these topics such as his dystopian novel, The Iron Heel and his non-fiction exposé, The People of the Abyss."

Terrie and I decided to go visit his home which is now Jack London State Park in Glen Ellen, California......over in the Valley of the Moon.  We left the house early this morning and according to my Formotion thermometer, it was just about 46F.  A great opportunity to test ride the new Gerbing heated insoles, also.  Let me just quickly say.......they work well and are very comfortable!



Heading east on I-80, in Davis we took some two lane back roads over to Winters, Calif. where we stoppe to grab a bit of breakfast



After feeding the bodys, we headed out on Hwy. 128, a two lane road through the hills, to the Silverado Trail in the Napa Valley.  It was more like a beautiful spring day rather than a wintery Feb. day....






We made a quick stop at the dam.....below is Putah Creek.....above is Lake Berryessa.





Here's a shot of the overflow spillway.  This thing is so incredable looking when the lake is high and water is spilling over into this whole....

[JCZ]

Some views of the Napa Valley during the winter.....















and out of Rhtherford, up and over another small mountain range.....a great motorcycle road.....to Hwy. 12 and Glen Ellen....



and did I mention on the other side........12% grade for 2 1/2 miles.....



Soon we arrive at our destination and we'll spend the next three or four hours (a great day ride and destination for the Nor Cal members if you've never been here)....





"Large Print Edition" for us ol' folks!



House of the Happy Walls.....that Jack London's wife built and lived in for awhile, after he passed.  Eventually, she moved back in to the cottage that they both lived in for years while they were building Wolf House (more on Wolf House later)....






and a collection of First Edition copies of some of his more notable books....



and paper back version of some of those same books....

[Skillet]

JC once again thanks for posting some noteworthy pics and info. Also thanks for showing us what it is like to ride this time of year.

[JCZ]

The Wolf House is .6 mile down a foot trail.....over on the other side of the ranch and we're off on a hike....







The Wolf House is a four story stone and timber home that Jack and his wife spent several years having it built.  It set in the middle of a stand of redwoods, nesteled between several hills.  It was nearly completed and they had actually started moving some of his collection (he collected from all over the world and she followed him everywhere he went.  I think he wrote a book about ever location that he ever went to) to the home.  The walls of the home were mostly stone however, the top floor and all the floors were hand hewn timbers.....exotic woods from all over.  Two weeks prior to their scheduled move in date, the oily rags that were used to stain the floors were all left in a pile and caught fire through spontaneous comustion due to the oil and the heat........the home burned to the ground.  They never moved in to Wolf House.  Jack died from renal failure several years later.

Here are some shots taken at Wolf House....





Note the fire places on several floors.  This appears in several locations throughout the home.  One location all four floors had stacked fire places.  Apparently he treated all his ranch hands, maids and housekeeprs, etc. very well, too.....there were servants quarters in the main house.



Here is a view of an unknow couple (maybe related to the archetects) taken just a couple weeks before the fire.  They're looking down into the reflection pool in the center of the home (that was also going to be used as a swimming pool).



and to give you an idea of what it was going to be..... the same location and same view as I saw it today.....



another example of before the fire (rendition).....



and from the same view (but from ground level)....as I saw it today....









and then we hike up on top of a nearby knoll where Jack Lonon's ashes are buried under a large stone that came from the buned home.....









Hiking back up the hill towards the main part of the ranch....







More interesting read.  Terrie and I both found this guy and his wife to be very interesting.  Even though he was worth millions at the turn of the century, they lived comfortable but didn't appear to be extravigant....very down to earth furnishings and possessions and apparently he was "hands on" on a daily basis, if they weren't traveling.

[JCZ]

Spinless (needles) cactus?  Who would have ever thunk it?



Not a thorn or needle in the bunch!

















and finally.......the cottage where they lived until he passed.  His room was the sun porch on the left and her room was the sun porch on the right.

They found him in his room early in the morning, unresponsive but alive.  They moved him to her room, which is larger, as the doctor was summond and tried to revive him......to no avail.  He died from renal failure at the age of 40.







There was/is a pond in front of the home that's full of bottom feeders.....carp, koi, gold fish, cat fish, etc.



We found the fish food up by the steps.  I threw a hand full in the water and the black cat fish came up from the bottom and was, by far, the most aggressive fish in there, even though several of the koi were bigger.  It was interesting watching that interaction right up on the surface....

[JCZ]

I said they were not extravegant.  They told us this was Jack's room with his furnishings, as he left it the morning he passed.  NOTE....his version of an alarm clock between the two windows.  A hand drawn picture of a clock face with a note for which ever ade's job it was to wake him.....the note reads "Wake me at....." with movable hands on the clock face.  All the furnishings are original and belonged to them!



and Jack's version of Post-Its......clothes pinned to a line above the foot of his bed.....



His alarm clock....



His inner room, next to his sun room.  It could have been his bedroom but he chose to use it as his office......those are all his original furnishngs and equipment.



Furnishngs in her inner room......that she did use as her bedroom.





her sun room







the living room



On the roll again.....

[JCZ]

We stopped in Sonoma for lunch.







caught Terrie with a mouthfull.....







This cow is made entirely of wine corks....



The town square.....right in the heart of downtown



































More pics of the town square.....









This lil guy was busy digging his new home.  It's amazing how fast they can build a hill.  He wasn't shy.....with all the people walking by on the walk.  He just kept digging.



and a car that was parked a couple spaces down from my bike....

[JCZ]

We headed home via Hwy. 12 through Rio Vista.  Here's a few pics passing the windmill farms....







and crossing the Sacramento River.....

















Sunset along the Sacramento River.....







We had a great day today, a great ride, ate good and good weather.  However, riding along the river there aren't many places to get gas for less than $5.50 a gallon so we pushed on over to I-5.  The pump shows that Terrie pumped 6.199 gallons.......I think she was about to start walkin.

[backroad Mike]

Wow, nice write up.  Great pics.

[knothead]

Thanks for taking us along...

[LovemyCVOgirl]

Wow! What a great day and great pictures but $5.50 a gal for gas  that is unacceptable . 

[mjb765]

Great pics JC.....thanks for the ride

[spydglide]

Thanks JC.  Truely enjoyed this day trip with my morning coffee.  spyder

[porthole]

I don't know JC, with a state as big as yours you seem to have nothing but boring un-impressive places to ride  . You need to move out east!

[mjb765]

I don't know JC, with a state as big as yours you seem to have nothing but boring un-impressive places to ride  . You need to move out east!

Yes so he can sit home and look out his window and dream of riding in Feb......except maybe this year....