Ronald Reagan Library

We had a few days off so we went down to Oxnard CA, with the intentions of checking out Santa Barbara.  Oxnard was just the closest place we could find and use our Hilton Honors points for a hotel.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites right on the water.  The first couple of nights were kind of cold, but it did warm up where we could get down on the beach some.  

Anyway, Santa Barbara was kind of a bust.  We walked around downtown for a few hours, but it just didn't grab us like we thought it would.  

The next day we went a little further north to Solvang, a small Dutch settled town.  Now, we did enjoy that!  It was a very quaint town with Dutch influences, you know, windmills and such.  With lots of bakery's to choose from and some different kinds of shops, not the usual junk you find everywhere. That is worth a day trip if you are in the area, very friendly folks.

Today as we were heading home.  We decided to hit the President Ronald Reagan Library.  I wanted to see it because it has Air Force One from Reagan's years (B707).  I wasn't sure Sandy was going to like it, but she sure did!  She's not much for museums, and I've dragged he through the Smithsonian quite a few times, but she really connected with this one, as did I.  I think because we can remember this part of history as we were reading about all the displays.  They had AF1 and VVM1, of course; part of the Berlin Wall, Cowboys,  Reagan's touring all of the world, and just so much more.  I remember bits and pieces of these things, but it really comes back to you as you get to reading some of the stories.  Like in the gift shop, they had a CD of his jokes he told at each Press Conference.  I remember those jokes!  He always told a joke or two at each Press release, it was his signature.  And do you remember Jelly Beans?  That was another Reagan signature, he always had them on his desk.  

The Library is up on top of a hill, but through a winding road.  Now how did they get this B707 up here?  Inquiring minds want to know!

Well, they took it apart and trucked it up here, then built the building around it.  In front of the airplane is a wall of windows looking down in the valley.  The plane is sitting at the proper angle of attack, where a good gust of wind could set that thing flying right down the mountain!  

We spent several hours in there, just soaking it all up.  He was just an ordinary guy, who became President.  But one thing that happened; changed the world for him, and for me.  The whole world stood up and took notice when he told the Air Traffic Controllers to return to work or be fired.  They didn't, and he did; fire them all (1981).  Right then and there, the whole world knew what kind of man President Reagan was.  A man of his word.  He was to be tested several times after that, but he said what he meant and did what he said.  Hot spots like Cuba, Granada, Korea, and Russia.  He built up the Air Force, Navy, Marines, Army, with hardware and bodies.  If somebody was going to call his bluff, then he was going to be ready.  

Those were the good ol' days, when the President and Congress had their differences but worked them through for the good of the country.  Not like today, when everybody is out for themselves like a bunch of thieving  SOB's.  Oh, sorry, did that just slip out?

One last photo op with the President showing me around his ranch.  It was a great day............

Got out of Vegas alive!

We made it back to Bakersfield with our wallets!  A friend gave us tickets to Blue Man Group and that was very nice of her.  We saw them in New York about 10 years ago, and the show is very similar, but different.  A good show, but expensive if you have to pay for it.  We also saw Frank Marino's Devia show at the Imperial Palace.  This was Sandy's favorite show when he was at the Riviera many years ago.  I think we've seen it about 15 times now, and still enjoy it.

Our new favorite Casino is  the Jokers Wild, out in Henderson.  We have a nice time out there and it doesn't cost us an arm and a leg.  $1 Craps and $3 Blackjack you can play a long time.  

We stopped at the Borax mine on the way home.  Very interesting, they don't make soap there anymore.  The Twenty Mule Team has been replaced by 250 ton ore trucks and long........ trains.  Borates are found in fiberglass, ceramics, detergents, fertilizers, wood preservatives, insecticides, glass, and many more products.  There are only a few mines in the world.  This mine started in 1927 as an underground mine, and went open pit in the 1950's.  

When we pulled into camp there was this beautiful fragrance in the air!  The Orange Trees are in full bloom!  Wow what a sweet smell!  The trouble is now we can't pick the remaining oranges.  They don't want us knocking off the delicate blossoms, bummer.  I've learned a little about the life cycle of oranges, just from observations.  After picking they come right back in to prune up the trees, because once the blossoms set you don't want to mess up next years crop.  I guess the oranges turn right around and produce fruit again and take all summer to ripen, until harvest next February.  Wow, that's a long time.  All the grape yards are leafing out now, do they have blossoms too?  The nectarines were in big full bloom before we left last week.  Their orchards look like fresh snow with all the while blossoms now on the ground.  Spring has sprung in the California farm fields!  

San Francisco

We moved camp closer to San Fran to check out the sights and pick up our grandaughter, Hallie, at the airport.  Southwest Airlines was ahead of schedule, but we were ready, and picked up Hallie without a hitch.  Sandy has a few Groupons for us to explore the town with.  We hit the Exploratorium first, it is a hands on science center for kids, but Sandy and I had a good time exploring too.  This is a must see for kids, and it is included in the City Pass booklet, if you think you'll use it.  We made the mistake of taking her to Ghirardelli's Chocolate Factory the first day, because we had to go back each day for more free samples.  

We saw the California Academy of Sciences, but it was just OK, not as exciting as the Exploratorium.  The Aquarium of the Bay is in the City Pass book too, and Hallie had a good time touching all the fish and displays.  The City Pass book is good for nine days with unlimited bus and trolley car rides plus the sights I mentioned already.  It's a good deal if you really use everything in the book. 

The last day in town we went to the Alameda County Fair to watch the horses race and the other fair stuff.  We had a good time, but I think Hallie's best time was at Ghirardelli's.

Napa Valley

We spent a few days in Napa and Sonoma Valleys, staying at the Sonoma County Fair Grounds RV park.  We had a very relaxing time, driving around to a lot of the wineries, not to drink wine, but to see the sights.  There are WAY to many wineries to sample them all, and we are by NO means connoisseurs of the grapes.  We lucked-out in that the Fair Grounds had a fireworks show for the fourth of July.  

What to do with all of those corks?

Century old Zinfandel vines.

Old vines that have been ripped out.  You can use this for BBQ
smoking, or fire wood.

This place drilled tunnels for wine storage.

Sandy found a Segway Groupon for us at Healdsburg, CA. A nice 2 hour trip with some wine tasting along the way, and races through the vines........

Northern Cal Redwoods

We made our way down from Crater Lake to the northern California coast to see the redwoods.  We came down highway 199, with our super-duper Trucker's GPS squawking the whole way "Not a Truck Route", and my navigation backup, the Rand McNally Trucker's Atlas, said the same thing.  But the signs said we were OK, only no trailers over 60', and we met some REALLY long trucks on some curves that were well over THAT limit!  Anyway we made it.

This tree couldn't wait for the Redwood
to decompose...

I talked to the nice Ranger about trimming trees, and he asked where we traveled from.  He told us that Oregon has THE BEST State Parks, and don't expect that in California, we charge more and give you a lot less.......  OK, scratch the Cal State Parks from our list, Walmart offers more.  He told us all the hot spots to see the Redwoods, his park and more down the coast.  We have to do a lot of hiking these next few days, because I fear in San Francisco we'll be doing a lot of EATING!

There was one tree along side the road on the inside of a curve that was notched so the big trucks wouldn't hit it.  Another tree I saw needed an notch because it was scared up, wouldn't like to be the truck to have hit it!

Tree Hugger

Spooky in the fog.

This was as tall as a Rail Car!

My rig is dwarfed by this tree.