April 15&16, 2025 - Solvang, Ronald Reagan Library and Pickup Rachel

 

Title: April 15&16, 2025 - Solvang, Ronald Reagan Library and Pickup Rachel

Hike Info : Description 

Hike Info:

Type:Car

Description:

April 15, 2025, Tuesday

When I got up at 6:30, I saw there was an email from Rachel with her flight information. We exchanged emails about our itineraries. Our schedule is to go to Solvang today, enjoy the town. Then tomorrow go to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Rachel comes in at 4:30 tomorrow afternoon. Then back to Fresno. That seems to be OK with Rachel.

I get several things done until Sherri gets up around 9:30. I guess we will not be leaving at 9.

We actually hit the road about 11:10 with Sherri driving. We listen to a piece from the Holy Post about American values. The person being interviewed, Jonathan Rauch, is an atheist with a Jewish background. He has found that even though he does not believe in Christianity, he thinks that without a religious, and in this case Christian, set of values that democracy would crumble. How our democracy is built relies on the morals which believers held and which infused society.

When we got to Kettleman City, we stopped for a burger at In-N-Out. As we were finishing up our burgers, Sandi, a person whom I used to work with came over to say hi. I do not think I have seen her in at least 12 years. It is good to have seen her. I am amazed that she recognized me. I believe Dorothy Sayers said something like, it is something affirming (Sayers would not use this word) to be recognized out of a crowd.

I take over driving and drive to Solvang. Nothing exciting about that. Our hotel check-in is 4. Even though it is 3:30, the hotel, the Royal Copenhagen Inn, is ready for us. The receptionist is friendly and makes things easy for us. We have room 129-we happened to park right in front of it. The room is clean and everything is good and we have a king bed.

After we take a rest, we go for a walk around town-this is what Sherri enjoys, much more than I do. So I followed her lead. She goes into a few shops and I am content with reading outside of the shops. She did not buy anything, but really enjoyed the experience. We also keep an eye for places to eat. The German restaurant which Sherri likes is no longer there. So we continue to wander until we run out of town to wander. As we pass by a place called the Big Bopper, I make a comment that it smells just like Clarke’s in Mountain View. That seals the deal. It is the second burger of the day-it is not disappointing. We included a rare, for us, chocolate milkshake.

After eating, we headed back to our room for the rest of the night. There is a Golden State Warrior Play-In game on, so we watch that. The game ends around 10 and I go to bed by 10:30. The bed is comfortable. Would we stay here again? Yes.

Oh, by the way, the Warriors won, just barely.

 

 

April 16, 2025

Inside the car wash

I got up at 7:15 and took a shower. Our breakfast is to be delivered, yes, you read that right, delivered between 8 and 8:30. Mind you, it is a simple breakfast-a pastry, yogurt and cold cereal. So it is nothing fancy. We had our breakfast while we sat outside. A bit cool, but acceptable-that is the weather. I walk to the post office and drop off some cards.

Sherri and Reagans 

We are ready to leave around 9:20. I am driving again. There is not too much to tell except that we are grateful for the guidance which Google Maps gave. There is a section which says get off of 101 and follow the PCH, which we do. When we look up at 101, there must be construction as it is backed up and almost completely stopped. We rejoin 101 seven miles later and go to Oxnard.

Why Oxnard, you might ask yourself? First there is a Costco where we got gas. Then there is a Costco car wash which is Sherri’s newest addiction. The car did need washing. Finally, there was a food court. Sherri got a turkey Caesar salad and I got a turkey and provolone sandwich. This is satisfying. Then it is back on the road.

It is only a half an hour to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. We arrived at 12:30. Evidently, there is insufficient parking as there is a line of cars about a mile down the entrance road. Plus it is a pretty good hill going up. We started to walk it until we recognized that a shuttle was coming down the hill to pick up people. The driver is pretty friendly and gets to the library's entrance within 10 minutes.

In November, we went to the Nixon Library and got a membership there. We have been able to use it at the Carter Library in Atlanta and now it gets us into the Reagan Library. We do not have the time to see the special exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the oldest Ten Commandments. We just walked right into the museum part of the library. The first thing is a short video telling us about Reagan, then a hologram of Reagan greets us before he needs to go to a meeting.

We go through the first part of the museum which tells about his life before becoming President. This includes his parents and family in Illinois. This is where he did not make the cut as a football player but did well in the theater. Followed by broadcast on radio where he could be dramatic as a sports announcer. This led him to some acting gigs. The Army would not send him overseas during World War II because of being near-sighted. But they used him in propaganda movies.

This led to his movies. And movies lead him to lead the Actor’s Guild union. Here he learned the art of negotiation. His time as the front person for General Electric Theater gave him face recognition. Also GE sent him around the nation to each of its factories. So he got on the ground contact with ordinary Americans.

While an early Democrat,he felt more comfortable with Eisenhower, Nixon and Goldwater than the Democratic candidates for President. He campaigned for the Republicans and that got his name as a possible political candidate. In 1966 he ran for governor of California and won. The exhibits talk about what he is said to have done as governor. Note: there seemed to be things which the Library gave him credit for which either preceded him or happened after him. Such as the Big Creek Project happened either before his time as governor or after it, not during it. It seemed to also say that a great expansion of solar power happened during his time. Maybe it is because he was the first governor that I was really aware of his actions. Do I have a different perspective than what the Library gave? But one of the things which I have seen as we have gone through the various Presidential Libraries is to let them tell their own stories about what they were trying to accomplish and what they did.

We then entered into where he became President. Actually the room only has the first few months of his Presidency. Andrea had heard a podcast which said to pay particular attention to the movie reviews, his diary entries and pictures of him feeding squirrels on the White House lawn. We only saw diary entries. You can see them online as well.

Going out of this room, we have time for one more thing: Air Force One. As we walked towards it, we saw a mural talking about the Secret Service. It is interesting, particularly since I read a book about the Secret Service in my OSHER Book Club called Zero Fail. As we are leaving this area, Lisa C, a docent, talks with us. I am not sure if she was Secret Service proper, but she had been part of the forward team, doing the planning for events. Interesting tidbits. Then we meet her as we walk to Air Force One and she fills us in on the plane.

When you get into the plane, your picture gets taken-with the hope of you buying it later on. We observe the various compartments. We first get to look into the cockpit area. Four seats in a very small area, crammed full of stuff. I do not think I would ever fit. Traveling as President is much better than anybody else on the plane. The President gets a cabin all to himself with space to stretch out and hold meetings. The staff is a bit better. You have an area where there is security and people can work. Then beyond a secure door is where everyone else is. They are not to pass by the door. This back compartment is not very luxurious, more like the coach of a commercial airplane. Our friend Lisa talks us through the areas, explaining them. She also notes that even with these conditions, it is a privilege which very few people get to ride in Air Force One.

You exit out the rear of the plane and down some stairs. It is getting time to leave to pick up Rachel, so we ask what would be the best way to exit. It is out a door, up some stairs to the shuttle. The shuttle is the same drive which brought us up. Then it is off to LAX, which sounds simple. But this is Los Angeles and Highway 405. That means there is bumper to bumper traffic all the way to the airport.

LAX is large with many terminals. Also it is confusing. So we make a couple loops around the departure areas, then another loop around the upper level for arrivals. We then finally make it to the Cell Phone waiting area, which is also crowded. Rachel has us wait only about 20 minutes before she says she is at the departure. There we pick her up, more accurately, she spots us and gets to our car.

Then it is off to Fresno. I drive to Santa Clarita where we eat dinner at a sandwich shop called the Urbane Cafe-do not think Subway, rather something a bit more sophisticated. Then Rachel takes over driving back to Fresno. We get in about 10:15. Shortly after arrival, it is time for me to go to bed.

 

 

 

April 7, 2025 - Stevenson Falls

Title: April 7, 2025 - Stevenson Falls
Hike Info : Description : Background :  Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking 

Trail head: Italian Bar Road

Trail: Million Dollar Mile (SCE)

Destination: Stevenson Falls

Actual Destination: 

Distance:  6.98 miles ¹

Start Time: 10:20

End Time:    2:25

Travel Time:  4:05 (1.71 mph)

Moving Time: 3:16   (2.14 mph)

Elevation Rise: 828'

Descent: 837‘

Maximum Elevation: 2,345'

GPS Tracks

 ¹My GPS stopped on the return trip about 1.4 miles from the Falls. The rest of the trip is stitched together from the trip out. The Start and End times is what I noted down. For a more complete view, see my blog entry for January 3, 2025.

Description:

Yesterday during our Fresno family meeting, we said we would go on a hike today. Even though we went to Stevenson Falls in January, since it is Spring, we might get to see some flowers in bloom. Let us hope so.

Jose Creek

I got up at 6:30 and got myself ready for an 8am departure. We actually left at 8:20 with Sherri driving. Our first stop is Costco to fill up with gas. We probably could have easily made it. But I really would rather not get stuck down there without cell service. Sherri is trying a new thing, paying with her phone’s wallet. We still need to work on it. I think it is a matter of getting things right with the membership.

Sherri actually drives all the way. The first part of the route is an ordinary road. But when we leave Auberry, the road starts to get a bit more “interesting”. Particularly when we turn off onto Jose Basin Road. But Sherri keeps on going. When we turn onto Italian Bar Road, the road gets more curvy, more narrow and steeper. And Sherri drives us all the way to the parking area for the Million Dollar Mile. We arrive a few minutes after 10.

But before we hit the road, Sherri cannot find her day pack. Did she bring it? Where was it left? What is crucial in there? Sherri is able to get a bottle of water, but she is missing her sunscreen. I have some energy bars and more water if needed. So we start our walk about 10:20

 

 

There is more exposure to the sun than there is earlier in the year. So Sherri is bundled up since she lacks her sunscreen. On the other hand there are flowers. I misquote Jesus to her, telling Sherri to that our heavenly Father looks after the flowers, so she should let her earthly husband and son look after her. Not that she really took us up on this.

Looking east

California Golden poppies

You may think the previous statement was facetious, but it isn’t. There are flowers everywhere. I go from the edge of the road to the edge of the road to gawk at the flowers. There is lupine and redbud, of course, which provides the purples and a reddish-lavender. But then there are the delicate little white flowers, some blue dicks, fireweed, and the orange is provided by California Golden Poppy. This is not just a patch here and then a small patch there. But there were flowers throughout our walk. Even the rocks have water dripping from them and the greenness of plants hanging on.

Throughout this walk, I stop and look, then catch up only to stop and look some more. Not so much looking over the San Joaquin River or the mountains around. Today’s walk is more about the flora.

But Stevenson Falls almost always catches your attention. Today is no different. The Falls are not at its fullest, but pretty full. When you stand right, the sun filters through the dropping water, sometimes providing a glow and other times a glistening.

Rivulet off a rock

Redbud

We drop down in the shade, close to the rock wall. Direct sunlight is a bit warm. This is a pleasant place to have lunch. Right beside where I am sitting are several flowers. Always nice to have a bouquet of flowers to be at your side while you munch on your peanut butter and Nutella sandwich. Heaven must be something like that.

Sherri left about ten minutes before Steven and myself. By the time I got off the ground-it takes a bit more to get off the ground these days-it is 12:40. I am even more delayed as I cross the Stevenson Creek bridge. A couple of women were taking selfies. I took their pictures, which they were appreciative of.

 

 

 

 

Coming out of Stevenson Falls, the Million Dollar Mile Road goes on a long uphill. I am wondering how I will be doing on this. Actually, I do well. I kept a steady pace going up it, stopping only at the top for 30 seconds at the top. But I have not caught up with either Sherri or Steven. As we get to the adit a bit more than halfway to the car, I do catch up. I give Steven my car fob and he goes on ahead.

I walk with Sherri the rest of the way. Nothing exciting, just walking. Well, there is an SCE helicopter flying the lines. It is warm, but we have plenty of water. We got back to the car about 2:30. Steven drives us back. I guess I no longer need to drive-I can be chauffeured everywhere. Of course, after a hike, there is always the pressing question: Where do we want to eat? The answer after much shoulder shrugging is Pieology up in northern Fresno. By the time we get home it is closing in on 5.

 

 

Background

I met a new fellow lookout afterwards. He used to work for SCE and travelled this area. We swapped stories. I did ask him if there was any truth to a SCE truck being crushed on the bridge by the Falls. He had not hear of it, but he had heard of windows being blown out.

Extra Photo's

View from our lunch spot

Sherri and Gary at lunch

Steven, Korra and Gary at lunch

Stevenson Falls

Top of Stevenson Falls

Sherri crossing Stevenson Creek Bridge

Gary and Steven going down the road

Animals

 
Flowers and Plants

Sunflowers

Sun Cup

Whisker Plant

Sunflower

California Golden Poppy

Lupine

Lupine Bush

Lupine

Indian paintbush

Sucessllia?

Elderberry

Redbud

March 21, 2025 - Atlanta - Midtown Walk

 

Title: March 21, 2025 - Atlanta - Midtown Walk
Hike Info : Description : Menu : Extra Photo's 

Hike Info:

Type: Touring

Trail head: North Ave MARTA

Trail: GPS My City Atlanta MidTown Walk

Destination: Civic Center Station

Distance:  2.34 miles ¹

Start Time: 12:28

End Time:    3:35

Travel Time:  3:06  (0,76 mph)

Moving Time: 1:28   (1.60 mph)

Elevation Rise: 445 '

Descent: 254‘

Maximum Elevation:  1,161'

GPS Tracks

 ¹The GPS track is missing first part of our walk. But the map has the missing part in blue.

Description:

went to sleep last night about 11:15. Then I woke up at 8 this morning. Sherri gets us shortly after I do and she makes French toast while I continue to write yesterday's blog.

Sherri talked with MARTA about her phone. We left our AirBnB about 11:20. We have a choice about going on the bus to the Brookhaven train station or walking there. We decided to try out Sherri’s phone on the bus. So we catch the 110 and Sherri’s phone does work! Mine on the other hand does not seem to read. Oh well, guess we will have to see if this is a pattern.

We catch the Gold line at Brookhaven and travel to the North Station. There we picked up the Midtown walking tour which GPSMyCity has laid out. We start walking about 12:30. Our first stop is the Fox Theater, which is about two blocks away. To give you a hint about our travels, most of the places we stood outside and gawked for a few minutes and then went on. These were not tourist places, but more places within the city which had meanings for locals.

Such as the Fox Theater. It used to be a mainstay of theater life in Atlanta, now it is an aging building, still a theater, but relegated to hosting up and coming acts or second tier movies. But right across from it was the Georgian Terrace Hotel. Apparently this was one of the better places in town.

We continued our walk to one of the more interesting places on our walk today: MaryMac Tea Room. This is the last of the downtown diners in Atlanta. From how busy it is I do not think it will be out of business anytime soon. We asked permission to look at the dining room. But even before making it that far, we stopped and looked at the popular people’s photographs which have been here. There were local politicians whose names I recognized up to President Carter. But there were also lots of celebrities. This sort of confirms this is a place to be in Atlanta. We took a look at the dining room, dodging the wait staff which was running everywhere-highly energetic. Looks like a good place to come back to when we are hungry-breakfast is still with us.

St Marks

Then it is down the Piedmont Street aways. There is some colorful street sculpture we pass by before getting to the William Perrin Nicolson House. We did find a Little Library, much like our own in that it is designed to match the house. Theirs is much larger than ours. When we get to the Nicolson House, there are no signs marking this as a historic building. But the house does match what is on GPSMyCity. It is interesting and an older house, looking like it is well cared for. Later on I found out that it is an AirBnB going by the name of Shellmond.

Next up is St Mark’s United Methodist Church which is only a few blocks away. What can one say from the outside?It looks like an older church. Its claim to fame is that it is one of the few places in Atlanta made out of granite. From what I read, from Stone Mountain. But from appearances, nothing special.

Then it is a walk down Peachtree to the Margaret Mitchell House. But we see an interesting building, remarkably called the Peachtree Manor which is on the National Registry of Historical Places. It is behind a wrought iron fence, so we cannot get a good look. As a note: First, after reading about the Manor, if we had gone to another entrance, we would have gotten a better view. Also, because of the Civil War, most of Atlanta’s buildings are newer than 1865. Also it looks like Atlanta has not taken too good of care of its historical buildings as they are not well marked. From what we can see, it values new and vibrant and tall over stately and old.

The Margaret Mitchell House may be the highlight of our trip for Sherri, even though the MLK area and the Carter Library are contenders for those honors. Sherri is a fan of Margaret Mitchell and Gone With the Wind. She has been looking forward to visiting places which are associated with her. This House is where Mitchell lived while writing the book, her one and only. It has been turned into a museum about her. We were willing to pay full freight, but the lady at the desk talked about the exceptions which included first responders. I mentioned that we volunteered at a fire lookout in California. She gave us that discount. I guess I can no longer say we are only paid in sunsets.

Margaret Mitchell House

The museum was a bit surprising to me. I thought it would be more like a shrine to the author, and there were elements of that. But it did a good job of presenting both Margaret Mitchell (Marsh) as a person and a product of her times. It talked about how she did not want anybody to know she was writing a book, how that she wanted to recall the book even after she showing it to a publisher, and how after the book was published she recoiled against the fame she received. Maybe that is the reason why she only wrote one book.

But Mitchell was a product of her upbringing. She was raised in the culture of the Lost Cause, not even knowing that the South had lost the Civil War until she was ten years old. Her upbringing taught her that the South was justified in seceding from the Union as it was their right to.Also that the slaves were treated kindly, with only a few exceptions. This influenced how she wrote Gone With the Wind. While she consulted references and made sure the book was historically accurate, the book’s portrayal was not accurate concerning slavery. This is all brought out in the museum. The movie was aware of this and tried to downplay some of it, but there were protests against it. It looks like the movie and book were not just fantasy of an author, but a statement of belief.

1st Church of Christ, Scientist

We spent about two hours in the museum. It is well worth the time. I am not sure that I will be reading the book, but if Sherri watches the movie, maybe I will. By now it is mid-afternoon and we are hungry. Close by is the Atlanta Federal Reserve. There is a sign talking about museum hours for the Reserve. Sounds like something to add to our list of things to do. There are some benches outside and the sunshine feels good. So out comes our peanut butter sandwiches. We discussed what we saw at the Margaret Mitchell House. More or less what I said above.

After we have let our stomachs digest the food, it is time to continue our MidTown walk, even though we are getting towards the end of the tour. The next item on the list is the First Church of Christ, Scientist. But opposite from the church is a sculpture called Trilon by Steffen Thomas. After duly observing it, we move on to observing the church. It has an elegance about it. The front faces the corner and has columns which reminds a person that this is someplace serious.

Instead of continuing on our route, Sherri has spotted a house which looks interesting a block away. It has a feeling of oldness and wealth to it. As we look at the house and wander down the block, we realize that this is the other end of Ansley Park-where we stood yesterday waiting for the bus. I suspect it is a better part of the older section of the city. Afterwards, Google Maps puts a label on the home: Sam K Kaywood, Jr.

House in Ansley Park

We returned to our route and came to Woodruff Art Center. I was not expecting much and got what I was expecting. We talked with a person inside of the building. She said that there was not much going on right then as the building is used mostly for the Atlanta Symphony and for theater productions. We continue our walk, through the building and out the other side. This brings us to the High Museum of Art. We confirmed that tonight there is jazz at the High and there were still tickets for it. We bought tickets for us tonight.

Parabolic Sculpture

The Arts Center Station is just across the street from the High. We catch the Gold train and are back to the AirBnB About 4:30. We rested for a while and then had left overs from Maggioni’s. Apparently we did not get done resting as we did some more after dinner.

We leave about 6:15 for our return engagement at the High. We get there at 7:00. It is certainly crowded. And loud. We can hear the jazz group in a different part of the complex. The group is Téja, not that I have heard of them before-turns out Teja is a person. When we get to the room in which they are playing, it is filled wall to wall, both sitting and standing. It is even louder in the main. Enough so, we look for a way to escape. Not saying that Téja was bad, actually, they were very enjoyable. But their sound just reverberated off of the walls, increasing the volume.

MidTown At Night

Our escape was to ascend into the upper levels of the museum. By going into where the paintings are, we can get some shielding of the sound. It also gives us a means to explore the museum. The High has several groupings of exhibits. Our first group was American painters, and I would suspect more Southern, but do not know about that. This is mostly oils. As we wander around, there is early furniture as well. Then there is an exhibit of African art. One fabric caught Sherri’s attention. It was made out of the metallic strips from alcoholic beverage necks.

But by far, what we spent time around was a parabolic dish which reflected at various angles images in front of it. It was fun looking at a person in it and realizing that as they were speaking not only was it reflecting the person’s mouth once, but there was a whole strip of the person’s mouth moving. And not only that, but depending on where the person was, the sound was being amplified and thrown back at them and us. It was a great conversation gatherer.

By about 9:15, we decided to go back to our room. We go back to the Arts Center Station, and wait about 25 minutes for the Gold train. Then walk back from the Brookhaven station. We get in about 10:20, pretty tired. I get to sleep around 11:20.

Menu

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
French toast	Peanut Butter and Nutella sandwich	Left Overs from Maggioni’s

Extra Photo's

Sculpture Street Art on Piedmont St

Nicolson House

Sherri at the Margaret Mitchel House

Atlanta Federal Reserve

Trilon by Steffen Thomas

First Church of Christ, Scientist

Our 10th Floor AirBnB

Sherri being looked at

Contrasting View of possible econmics

Snake Lady

Sherri and some miniature sculptures

Side of the Parabolic Sculpture

MidTown at Night

Art Center Station mural