Two libraries, two days

On Friday, I visited the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, California.  Yorba Linda is in the eastern part of the Los Angeles area, just above Anaheim.

The visit starts with a film specially made for the museum.  President Nixon actually narrates quite a bit of it, which is kinda spooky, but cool.  What I liked about this museum was that they didn't sugar-coat the Watergate affair; it was addressed at length.  In the film, Nixon is candid about his successes and his failures.
He and Pat's gravesites are at the end of a beautiful garden path, and just beyond that is Nixon's birthplace, moved here from nearby Whittier.

Flag from President Nixon's casket

Nixon was an accomplished pianist.  He often
played at White House gatherings.

Chandelier from mock East Room

Nixon always said he was "born in
a house my father built."

Presidential limousine

Richard on left, Pat on right

I had hoped to be at the southeastern border of California by nightfall, but a traffic jam on the freeway leading in that direction forced me to backtrack to the Anaheim/Fullerton area for the night.  While standing outside the hotel room about 9 p.m., I could see fireworks in the distance.  It was Disneyland!

Reagan and Hollywood

Thursday, I visited the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Reagan Presidential Library is in Simi Valley, northwest of Los Angeles.  They actually have President Reagan's Air Force One plane built into the museum.

Here are some more photos from the Reagan museum...

Reagan's burial site

It was fun to go to Hollywood, but the Walk of Fame area is a little on the dirty side.  It's real touristy, but there's also a lot of crazy, weird characters around there.  Here are some of the stars I saw on the sidewalk.  They stretched for about 7 or 8 city blocks in either direction on both sides of the street.  There were also stars on Vine St. for 2 or 3 blocks.

Central California

On Wednesday, I drove from the San Francisco area toward Los Angeles.  This is actually quite a long drive on Interstate 5 freeway.  There are hills to the right (west) and farmlands to the left (east) all the way until you have to cross a mountain range separating Central from Southern California.  Up in those mountains (at Lebec) is where I spent the night.  Thursday will be my sightseeing day in Los Angeles.

Hills to the east

Farms to the west...Saw a lot of fruit trees,
a big cattle operation, advertisements for
cherries and pistachios.

Water seems to be a huge issue here.  There were all types of canals, aqueducts, and other water delivery systems.  There were also signs encouraging lawmakers to do more to get more water to the area.




The biggest city in this central region is Bakersfield.  I arrived there in time for supper, so I stopped at the restaurant/theater of country music legend Buck Owens, the Crystal Palace.  Had a great steak, and the museum of his stuff is cool, too, for an old-time country music fan.