I had a blast in South City. The mayor showed up, many of the city counsel members, a half dozen Vietnam Veterans, and I had family show up, family I hadn’t seen in over 10 years. It was a great reconnection. I lived in South San Francisco when I was five. My grandfather was the head of Public Works there for years and in the audience waiting to hear me read was a woman who remembered ol’ Ralph Davis. It was like coming home a little and making it. It was really an awesome experience. To add to this amazing experience one of the Vietnam Veterans stop the reading halfway through and tell me that after 41 years of being home from his war, I was the only one to understand, I was the only one that reached him. I didn’t know what to say. That’s why I wrote the book.
Here are some photos:
I couldn’t resist sitting in the mayor’s seat
The Vietnam Vets after the reading
Here’s a Vietnam Vet talking about where he was hit with a 7.62
The audience was great. We had a great conversation.
South San Francisco, CA
I had the best time on this road trip. I took my brother Vince and my nephew Jameson. Here’s a little photo essay of the San Fran road trip if you want to see what it’s like to drive from Portland to San Fran and back.
Heading south on Day one
My nephew Jameson bored after 20 minutes
first gas stop
Saturn, the moon, and Mars
Day 2 at Sacramento River
An army of paddle boarders appeared
There’s a new Bay Bridge. They’re selling the old one to China
San Fran
Alcatraz
tourist photos
food photos
selfies
Bay Area
traffic
My never-ending search for Americana
Americana
Americana
Shasta
I did not know that parts of Oregon and California want to form an independent state until I drove through it.
back home
Rogue River
Vince tricked me out of my coffee while driving
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Author: Sean Davis
Sean Davis is the author of The Wax Bullet War, a Purple Heart Iraq War veteran, and the winner of the Legionnaire of the Year Award from the American Legion in 2015 and the recipient of the Emily Gottfried Emerging Leader, Human Rights award for 2016. His stories, essays, and articles have appeared in the the Ted Talk Book The Misfit’s Manifesto (Simon and Schuster), Forest Avenue Press anthology City of Weird, Sixty Minutes, Story Corps, Flaunt Magazine, The Big Smoke, Human the movie, and much more.
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