Nixon Library

Monday morning we set off for Yorba Linda, only a half hour away to visit the Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library. Leaving the campground, we disregarded the GPS momentarily because Mike wanted to check out an exit route for us when we pulled up stakes and headed north today. (pulled up stakes is a figure of speech - we don’t even have to crank up our jacks because they are automatic!)

I’m glad we turned right instead of left because we got to see the residential area of Pomona. A very nice town, with average, obviously middle-class houses. You know – where the real people live.

On to Yorba Linda. You may be noticing a pattern here. We both like history and enjoy visiting presidential libraries and/or museums. We could take in an art museum, the natural beauty all around us is more than sufficient. Most people, including us, would think that the Nixon Library would be at San Clemente – a.k.a “The Western White House”. Richard and Pat Nixon owned an estate in San Clemente from 1969 to the late 80’s. It is to SC that they retired when he resigned the presidency in 1974.

But Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, and his library is on the grounds of the citrus orchard his family owned. In fact, the library is built in a U-shape around the very house he was born in. The house was not moved here, it is in its original location. Nixon and 3 of his brothers were born in this house. A fifth boy, Edward, who is still living in Seattle, was quite a bit younger and was born after the family moved to Whittier, CA. They said he visits often, and with his remarkable resemblance to the President, it makes for many double-takes!

It may be because we went to Reagan’s library on a weekend and Nixon’s on a weekday, or it may be the popularity of the two, but there were far fewer people at Nixon’s library on Monday than at Reagan’s last Saturday. Having said that, this library was no less impressive. It is an accurate reflection of Nixon’s entire life and the times, his triumphs (opening relations with mainland China, ending the war in Vietnam, lowering the voting age to 18, fulfilling Kennedy’s dream of landing a man on the moon, coming to the aid of Israel in its war in 1973 which ensured victory ) and his failures – most notably Watergate and his resignation. His presidency is forever marked by the scandal that ended it, but we were reminded also of his resiliency. Hopefully, you too, will see this after reading further.

We did not know much about Nixon’s childhood or young adult years. Through pictures, letters, diaries and yearbooks, we learned he was the proverbial “most likely to succeed” type of guy. You know – Mr. All-Around Everything.

Nixon went on to serve in both the House of Representatives and Senate before being put on the ticket with Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. His involvement in the Alger Hiss spy case put him in the national eye. His place in the ticket was put in jeopardy when false stories began circulating that he took bribes. This led to the famous “Checkers” speech. Whereas TV hurt him in the debates with John Kennedy 8 years later, he appeared on national television to explain his position and asked the public to decide if he should keep running with Eisenhower or not. The response was overwhelmingly positive. (if you can’t remember the Checkers speech, email me and I’ll be happy to give you the Cliff notes version!)

He was the second youngest vice-president and with Ike’s blessing, Nixon re-defined the role of vice-president. He traveled extensively, acting much like a Secretary of State does today. He had 14 years of public service behind him when he ran for President against Kennedy. (much more than a certain someone that occupies the Oval Office today – oops, sorry).

After that defeat, and an unsuccessful run for Governor of Calf., Nixon uttered his famous line to the press – “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore” as many, including himself, thought he was out of the public eye forever.

His years as President included detailed displays of his historic trip to China, the exploration of the moon, Vietnam, and ended with Watergate.

I could have spent the entire day in this section. So much information to read, so many buttons to push to hear the actual recordings of conversations in the Oval Office (except for the infamous 18 minute gap, which experts have tried to restore with no luck). Nixon’s interview with David Frost could also be viewed.

The library also included a replica of the Lincoln Sitting Room. Nixon preferred to showcase this room because it was his favorite room in the White House and it is one the public does not get a chance to see because it is upstairs in the private residence.

One wing was a celebration of the centennial of Nixon’s birth, 1913-2013. Last year this same section housed the centennial celebration of Pat Nixon’s birth.

There were also galleries that displayed both Tricia and Julie Nixon’s wedding gowns, along with inaugural gowns that Pat wore.

A section was dedicated to Nixon’s emergence in his latter years as an elder statesman whose opinions on foreign policy were sought out and highly regarded by every president after him.

At the end of a wing was a full size re-creation of the White House East Room, with photographs of events that have taken place in that room from, viewing of Presidential caskets that have lain in state to Tricia Nixon Cox’s wedding reception.

Behind the library is Pat’s rose garden, and the burial site of the former President and First Lady. Beyond that is Nixon’s birthplace. We were allowed to tour the inside – all the furniture is original. The volunteer tour guide relayed an interesting story. An elderly gentleman touring the house said he too, like Nixon, grew up without indoor plumbing and now he sees people programming their DVR’s from their cell phones. All in his lifetime! Amazing, when you think about it!

A few steps away is the exact Marine One helicopter that Nixon rode from the White House lawn to Andrews Air Force base on the day of his resignation. Again we were able to go inside, but per Secret Service rules, could not take pictures inside. During Eisenhower and Nixon’s years as president, the helicopter carrying them could be called Marine One or Army One, depending on which branch of the service was piloting the aircraft. Today, the job falls solely with the Marine Corp.

Nixon was a complex man. On one hand he could order the creation of “The Plumbers” unit that conducted several illegal break-ins and on the other hand he refused, when Eisenhower offered to pay for it, a recount effort in his close election with Kennedy when evidence of voting irregularities surfaced. He said the nation needed a president and not be mired down for weeks during a recount.

He tried to use the FBI, CIA, and IRS in unauthorized ways to dig up “dirt” to discredit those he felt were threats to his administration, but he championed the cause of the environment with the creation of the EPA.

He struggled with accepting President Ford’s unconditional pardon (when Ford said the nation needed to move forward and not be mired down with an impeachment trial) because he knew it was going to be political suicide for Gerald Ford.

So folks, that is your history lesson for today! (I think I wrote more about Nixon than Reagan. Certainly not because I admire him more. I told Mike I felt a need to point out more positive things about him). Which leads me to a new career opportunity I discovered for myself while visiting the Nixon library – a docent. A docent is a volunteer who gives guided tours or just waits to be asked questions. The Nixon library had them everywhere. We did a guided tour of one wing of the library with one, and there was one at the birthplace home and Marine One. You could not go in either without the docent. The docent at Marine One was a retired policeman who likes history and likes people. That’s me! Except for the retired policeman part. . .

We left Yorba Linda and drove straight south to the coast. We had made arrangements to meet someone for dinner. We went down to Newport Beach (home of John Wayne) and then took the Pacific Coast Highway south to Dana Point, traveling through Laguna Beach on our way. We are trying to travel on this Highway 1 in the car as much as possible rather than with the RV due to small towns (stop and go traffic) and windy cliff roads. We are rewarded with some great views of the Pacific Ocean and cliffs and stretches of sandy beaches.

We met Gentry Ferguson, a long-time friend of Sarah’s, who lives in Encinitas, so Dana Point was about half-way for both of us. (at the Nixon library, we learned that Dick proposed to Pat at Dana Point!) We have few pictures of Sarah in high school that Gentry isn’t in. They were friends from the fourth grade. She looked great and likes living in southern California. It was SO good to see her – there were laughs and a few tears. She was a balm to our souls.

We are now on the road to a campground near Yosemite National Park. Mike just informed me I have been working on this for 4 hours! But I type, I think, I type, we pull over into a rest stop for a lunch of egg salad sandwiches and apples, I type, I call the campground to ensure a space and I type. Our first several hours were very mountainous driving – something that continues to surprise both of us. The last few hours have been flat – easier driving and better fuel mileage!

Pictures today are: a view from the library out to the birthplace; inside the library; a "woody" used in Nixon's Senate race, but also because a woody is "so California"; a clever way to demonstrate how Americans got their news from watching TV; statues of world leaders who Nixon said made a difference, including Churchill, DE Gaulle, Golda Meir, Sadat, Khrushchev, a picture near a section of the Berlin Wall that was heart-wrenching to me – I hope you can read it; the Lincoln sitting room, a draft of a speech for Nixon in case something happened with the moon landing; Pat and Richard; their burial site; this birthplace; Mike with the “Nixon send-off” boarding Marine One; me at the entrance to the library; a unique thing California has when entering busy freeways – a stop light where you can only proceed to merge onto the freeway when you have a green light; and me and Gentry!

Hooray for Hollywood

Mike never tells me what to put in this blog – he reads it along with everyone after I put a new post on. So today when he said, “Be sure to put in the blog how much I hate LA traffic.”, I figured that was worth leading with! (and he was driving the Jeep when he said that, not our motorhome. It is stressful getting from point A to point B with 5 lanes of traffic and often on hilly roads with the RV or in the car and he does a great job.

Our thinking was getting into downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood, traffic-wise, would be easier on the weekend than on Monday. It wasn’t too bad, but once we got parked right off Hollywood Blvd., we realized everyone who did not go to the beach on this beautiful day was in Hollywood. We set out to do all the cheesy touristy stuff. We did draw the line at taking the “See Where The Stars Live!” home tour.

We began at Grauman’s Chinese Theater to see all the hand and footprints immortalized in cement. I’m posting Shirley Temple’s as it was one of the older squares (1935) that most would recognize. Clint Eastwood wrote on his – “You made my day.” Roy Rogers included Trigger’s hoof prints in his square.

You’ve probably heard of a celebrity getting their “star” on the Walk of Fame. This 15-block stretch of sidewalk is also on Hollywood Blvd. We didn’t walk the whole 15 blocks (and it is both sides of the street), so we probably missed many, many names. We were not looking for anyone in particular so just enjoyed seeing the ones where we were. Some names we had never heard of, and it is obvious it is MUCH easier to get a star on the Walk than your prints in cement at Grauman’s.

As in New Orleans, we did a hop on, hop off bus tour. The circuit took about 2 hours to complete. It was a great way to see the area without getting frustrated with traffic and the GPS. Or me constantly saying to Mike, “Can you stop RIGHT here so I can get a picture?” We sat up top with the sun shining but enough of a breeze to be comfortable. The bus went down Sunset Boulevard, with the narration pointing out such things as the Pollo Loco where Brad Pitt stood outside in a chicken costume for advertising before he became BRAD PITT, the hotel where Julie Roberts stayed with Richard Gere in “Pretty Woman”, the Whiskey A-Go-Go where The Doors were the house band before they became THE DOORS, the exclusive hotel bungalow where John Belushi was found dead, The Comedy Store where virtually every famous comedian did stand up before they became FAMOUS, or the milkshake shop where you are likely to find Miley Cyrus or Lindsay Lohan mixing their own shakes. You know, all the trashy stuff we love to hear.

Two blocks later we were on Santa Monica Blvd., which runs through Beverly Hills. What a contrast! Suddenly we were in the middle of quiet, tree-lined side streets. The narration said many of the Hollywood stars live in the hills above LA but enough of them live in these tasteful houses, too. And where do these people shop? You guessed it – Rodeo Drive, which we turned on to next. Mike was really glad the bus didn’t make a convenient stop here!

Another turn and we were on Wilshire Blvd. This street was developed for business. It’s claim to fame? The first street to have timed stoplights and a left turn lane.

The Le Brea Tar Pits were next to view. Next to the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Arts, the Tar Pits are just that - tar. In prehistoric times, animals mistook the tar for water and became stuck. They have discovered a trove of fossilized animals here. And the pit is still oozing tar today.

We did get off at the Farmers Market, a two-block area filled with every conceivable type of food in an open-air environment. Connected to this was The Grove, another two-block area of shops. Way more enjoyable to stroll than an indoor mall with a dancing fountain and beautiful landscaping.

A root beer float and hot fudge sundae later we got back on the bus to return to the Chinese Theater. The iconic Hollywood sign up in the hills was visible for fleeting moments so our picture is not the greatest. And Mike put his foot down about driving up in said hills to get a closer shot. We did learn the sign was altered for Pope John Paul II's visit to LA. While he was there the sign read "Holywood". We did not take any studio tours, although Paramount or Universal were options.

Our bus tour ticket included free entry into Madam Tussauds Wax Museum. We feel kind of silly about this, but we ended up taking more pictures in here than outside. Tacky, but fun! Some of the wax figures were spot-on. (You would have thought Morgan Freeman was REALLY standing there). Others were just OK. We posed and mugged through 3 floors of wax.

It was mid- afternoon, so I made my pitch for a trip to Disneyland (it’s stays open until 11 pm!) I thought it would be fun to see how Mickey’s west coast home compares to his Florida home. (and the California Adventure Park is only in California!). Instead we drove to Pasadena to see the Rose Bowl stadium. And then Mike said he would drive me to Dodger Stadium, where IF there was an statue of Sandy Koufax, and IF there was a huge billboard of Kirk Gibson doing his fist pump after hitting the game winning home run, I would be happy. It was 4pm local time. Too bad that when Mike saw a 4pm game start time, it was Eastern Standard Time. So the 1 o’clock game was over and all the spectators were leaving as we were arriving! We couldn’t pull into any of the parking lots as all lanes going into the stadium were being used for cars leaving. Anyone that has been to a major sporting event knows the snail’s pace that traffic moves when leaving. We were caught up in all that without the benefit of actually seeing the game!

Pictures today are: me with a famous couple; Mike with Marilyn (notice he didn’t get as close to her as I did to Brad); Eddie Murphy – I know a strange choice for a picture, but he is wearing a Detroit Lions jacket, so I immediately smiled and he is standing with the Beverly Hills sign. I missed getting a picture of it from the bus; look who is helping Mike line up his putt; the source of another of Mike’s favorite sayings – “You think you used enough dynamite there, Butch?”; the Rose Bowl, with some of the biggest roses I have ever seen; the outside of Grauman’s Chinese Theater; Clint Eastwood and Shirley Temple’s imprints; Kevin Costner’s star on the Walk of Fame; a view down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills; the Hollywood sign; and the famous street corner of Hollywood and Vine

California Here We Come

Before I get to today in sunny California, a few comments from yesterday. We had another foreign tour bus encounter at a rest stop. This time it was Germans who were looking at, and taking pictures of the motorhome. And the wife spoke some English! This rest stop was the one I mentioned yesterday at the edge of the Mojave Desert. The hillside was dotted with Joshua trees (see picture). Since we saw one, we don’t feel so bad that we are not going to the Joshua Tree National Park.

One thing we have realized – we will not be able to do and/or see everything. For example, we could have spent another whole week in Utah. Who knew there was so much to see? We left Salt Lake City, Park City, Provo, Moab, Monument Valley and Arches National Park on the list for next time.

Back to sunny California. We are in Pomona, which is about 35 miles outside of Los Angeles. This will allow us 3 days of traveling in the car to sights within a several hour radius. This campground is our least favorite so far and if we were going to spend any amount of time during the day here, we would have looked for someplace else. We have no room to park the car on our lot, no picnic table, and only a 3ft. wide strip of grass between the next camper and us. We were able to grill (on the ground) our dinner Friday night before the neighbors arrived. (You have to be thankful for the little things. . . )

Our first stop today was Simi Valley, home to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. The sprawling, ranch style building is perched on a hill with an impressive view of the valley. The drive up the hill was lined with banners of all the Presidents, beginning with George Washington on through Barack Obama. Amazingly, the banner of Ronald Reagan was right in front of the library! We are glad we arrived when the library first opened. Four hours later, the parking lot was full and cars were parked on the side of the road for a mile. The library is very well done – an honest reflection of Reagan’s life, beginning with his birth in Illinois to his death in 2004. We often stopped and sat on a bench to watch a short video clip or lifted a speaker to our ears to hear snippets of his speeches. His career as a movie actor (the ND sweater he wore in his role as George Gipp – the Gipper – was displayed), traveling the country as a spokesman for General Electric (where his views on government, the economy and world affairs were sharpened), his years as Governor of California and his 8 years as President were all detailed in interesting and informative ways. You know how on election night the networks always have a map of the United States showing the red states and the blue states? We saw such a map from election night of Reagan’s second –term bid. Every state on the map was blue except for Minnesota – the home state of Walter Mondale, Reagan’s Democratic opponent in that election. He carried 49 states in a landslide election. We had forgotten that.

The tour of the library took us to an attached 3-story building that housed his Air Force One, (which we got to walk through), a Marine One helicopter and his presidential limo. You don’t see this part of the library when you drive up to the entrance so it was a pleasant surprise. Also in this area is a pub from Ireland that was dismantled and reassembled here. Reagan’s family is from County Tipperary in Ireland and he made a visit there during his presidency. (we could be related – Mike’s great-great grandfather, Michael McCarthy is from County Tipperary!) The owner’s of O’Farrell’s pub renamed their establishment The Ronald Reagan for his visit. Reagan said with pride, “John Kennedy has an airport named for him, Lyndon Johnson has a space center named for him, and I have a pub named for me!”

There is also a chunk of the Berlin Wall here. We bought jellybeans for our souvenir.

Ronald and Nancy Reagan’s life was a love affair from beginning to end and the library is reflection of that. It was touching to read his love notes and telegrams.

He is buried on the grounds, again overlooking the valley.

We were reminded of how he unabashedly loved America and brought optimism and hope and strength of character to the office of President. I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff and I had to choke back tears several times.

We then drove about a half hour south to the Pacific coast – specifically Malibu. On the way we passed Pepperdine University, Being the weekend, the Pacific Coast Highway was bumper to bumper. We thought we would be able to pull over and take a walk on the beach. That’s not an easy thing to do. Cars were parked along side the road for miles to avoid the fee to park in a public lot. And we only saw two places where we could have paid to park and get to the beach. (It made us appreciate our hometown of Ludington, with its free parking and unobstructed access to the Lake Michigan beach). Otherwise, the beachfront is solid private homes. There are surprisingly few hotels (no high-rises at all) and restaurants on the beach side of the highway. Fortunately, we kept driving and ended up at Santa Monica beach – of Baywatch fame (or as some called it, Babewatch). We did pay to park, but the beach was wide open for long stretches. We had our bikes and there is a cement path right in the sand for walkers, rollerbladers, and bikers, and there were plenty of all three. We rode down to the Santa Monica Pier, which was even more packed. What a colorful collection of humanity! We had a delicious hamburger at the Pier Burger. Its catchy slogan was too hard to resist – “Last Burger on Land”.

The beach was loaded with people. We noticed most of them were fully clothed – few had on bathing suits. It was as if they come, not necessarily to swim or get a tan, but just to be in the open, cooler air.

We’ve already experienced the smog and traffic and it’s only our first day!

We have flown to California before, into a specific city (San Diego, San Francisco) for a specific purpose (Mike’s work), but we both agreed it was different today. We stood on the beach, looked at each other and said “We’re in California!” like it was something brand new. Driving all the way to California is the difference.

Pictures today are: a Joshua tree; in front of the Reagan Library; a portrait of President Reagan, a replica of his Oval Office; Air Force One; Reagan’s burial site; the smog (hope you can see it); the Malibu beach; your intrepid travelers on their bikes (notice how wide the beach is); the Santa Monica Pier; a sign on the pier; the Santa Monica beach (the high rise is off in the distance, not on the beach); and the President and First Lady boarding Air Force One - ha!

A Day in St. George

Mike returned on Wednesday so all is well – at least in our 480 sq. ft. that we call home these days. We have learned that, truly, home is where you heart is.

It was so nice on Thursday to not have to be up at the crack of dawn to get on the road to our next destination, as we had one more day in St. George, Utah. We were able to spend a lazy morning fixing breakfast, doing emails and a crossword puzzle. We then began a mission to find replacement windshield wipers for the RV. With a Camping World right in town, we thought this would take about 15 minutes. No such luck. We spent several hours in our search, both driving to places and on the phone. Never did find the correct kind.

The rest of the beautiful afternoon (sunny and mid 80’s) took us to downtown St. George. What a lovely area! St. George is like most mid-sized towns – it has an actual downtown area and then, just outside of town is a mall and the requisite “big box” stores. St. George is home to Dixie State College, which is right in town. That and being a tourist destination probably contribute to the downtown area being able to thrive. We parked the car and strolled the streets. We started at the St. George Temple of Latter Day Saints, a white stucco structure that dominates the downtown skyline. That old saying of, “You learn something new every day” certainly applied to us on this visit. Most towns have a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. But not many cities have a Temple. Because we were not members of this religion, we were not allowed into the Temple. They had a very nice Visitor’s Center that displayed pictures of the inside of the Temple. Latter Day Saints celebrate their “ordinances” in a temple – marriages, baptisms, etc. Their temples are considered holy places patterned after The Temple in Jerusalem. Another claim to “the oldest. . . “ – the St. George Temple is the oldest surviving Temple. The construction of the temple in Salt Lake was started before this one, but St. George’s temple was completed and dedicated first. Our next stop was the St. George Tabernacle. We were allowed inside this building, and this is where I asked the difference between a tabernacle and a temple. The tabernacle was used as a place to worship but also by the whole community for civic meetings and gatherings. It is still used today for concerts and other functions. There is a little Michigan connection with this tabernacle. Miles Romney, Gov. George Romney’s grandfather (Mitt’s great-grandfather) was the construction manager and he built the two spiral staircases leading to the loft area. Along with these two buildings, we saw at least 3 “regular” LDS churches around St. George where most people attend services.

One downtown block had a fun, outdoor green space. Here we saw kids laughing and playing in an area where water shoots up at random out of the ground. That connected to an area with permanent tables and chairs with families having picnics. Beyond this was a large grassy area for impromptu games of touch football or soccer or just plain running. For those of you who have been there, it reminded us of the marina area in Ludington.

Another block was called Ancestors Square. This was a square of shops and restaurants (we ate here) that surround a serene courtyard. Things were being set up for a free musical performance, which happens several nights a week.

Two blocks further was the winter home of Brigham Young. Upon traveling from Salt Lake to oversee the construction of the temple in St. George, Young found the climate good for his health and built a home here. Besides being the second president of the Mormons, Brigham Young was governor of the Territory of Utah (an area that covered much of California also) before it became a state.

The temple, the tabernacle and the Young home are all maintained by the LDS church. There was no entrance charge at any of the locations. We knew that young adult Mormons must serve as missionaries. We did not know that senior members of the church also perform mission work. Both at the tabernacle and the Young home, our tour guides were senior citizens, doing their mission work. Our guide at the temple visitor’s center was a lovely young woman from Missouri and one from France. At the Young home, a young woman from Ireland was leading another group. All were warm and kind and engaging.

Our day ended with a bike ride and then getting everything ready to leave this morning. We left St. George at 8:45 am (Utah time), continuing west to California. Our destination today is a campground about 35 miles outside of Los Angeles. The GPS says it is a 7-hour drive, but will be at least 8 as we stop at rest areas to stretch our legs and fix lunch.

In fact, we just stopped at the first rest area after crossing into California. Some rest areas are boring and some are interesting. This one was a good one – with lots of visual displays explaining the Mojave Desert, which was in front of us.

Since we really have no other time restrictions until the end of June, we will pick spots, set up camp and do day trips to whatever suits our fancy. Sometimes, my fancy isn’t exactly Mike’s fancy. Then we will go by Mike’s 2 Rules For Life:

1- We’ll compromise and do it her way; or

2- She’ll either get over it or she won’t.

Let’s hope it will be more of the former rather than the latter!

Pictures today are: the St. George Temple; the Romney-built stairway; a portrait of Brigham Young in his living room; the outside of the Young winter home; how can you resist a picket fence, especially with the “Life is Good” saying? ; a unique breadstick and unique presentation. The dough is twisted around a wooden rod and baked – Yummy!; an example of whimsical sculptures all around downtown St. George that help make the area so appealing. The sign on the other side says “The Lookout”, the name of the sculpture; the St. George Tabernacle; and one last look at the beautiful scenery around St. George