2019, Our Year Traveling by Ship, Train, Plane, Car and Barge: September 2019

As we leave the Seabee base, we are immediately in the heart of farm country with acres of fields of various produce with intricate irrigation systems and sometimes, plastic covers over the plants or the soil. Obviously, the latest agriculture methods until it comes time to picking and then, depending on the crop, it’s old school migrants with their trucks and/or RV’s.

Everywhere your eye can see are the rolling mountains with their high mesas, arroyos and canyons with the produce or ranches in the valleys between.

President Reagan's Oval Office

I didn’t remember that President Reagan was a product of the Mid West, Tampico, IL. was his birthplace, but they lived in Dixon as he grew up.

The Reagan Library is beautifully done. We really enjoyed seeing & going aboard the Old Air Force One and Marine One.

Beautiful Mural

Portrait made out of Jelly Beans

I hadn’t realized that he wrote and memorized a good majority of his speeches making a speech prompter pretty much unnecessary. What his library and museum confirmed was what an incredible partnership he and Nancy had for all of their married life. She was clearly happy to give up her acting career for her life with him.

Loved her sense of humor

and her Style! Her dresses get changed out all the time

He and Nancy’s White House was filled with not just foreign dignitaries, but friends, family, Gold Star heroes and their families, athletes, and their fellow actors, musicians and performers. (I often wondered if her breast cancer while they were in office was aggravated by the stress of their position?)

His and Nancy’s ranch is outside Santa Barbara. The ranch is now owned by the Young Republicans and used for special events or by invitation only.

His Happy Place

What I remember most about him was his upbeat, can do attitude unlike the negativity with the USA today. We are still feeling some of the good and bad effects of Reagan-economics today. Like President Obama, he was a fantastic orator with a rich vocabulary who knew the value of a well timed pause and a humorous antidote.

The other aspect that surprised me was that he was only 5’ 3”. I knew she was tiny, but he always appeared taller.

The Rose Garden in the Back

Burial place

There was a beautiful view from up there

What we didn’t expect to see was a DaVinci presentation with many wooden models of some of his drawn inventions from flying machines, civil engineering projects, musical instruments, weapons of war, theatrical inventions, boats and horseless carriages. So many of his ideas were centuries ahead of his time. What they were good about emphasizing is like so many artists he struggled to make any money.

It was movable

This is a traveling exhibit if you get a chance to see it, go...I want to see it again when we can take longer...

Driving south to San Diego is always a challenge no matter how you chose to go since you have to get around car logged Los Angeles. Frustrating especially when both Goggle and Waze keep instructing you to jump off and on the highways to save yourself maybe 5 minutes