Title: April 15&16, 2025 - Solvang, Ronald Reagan Library and Pickup Rachel
Hike Info : 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.
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
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| 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.
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| Sherri and Reagans |
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.
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.
