This past weekend, I spent in Los Angeles with Peter S. (a regular on this blog) and his business partner and friend Eric M.. The purpose of the trip? The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley of course.
Reagan's Headstone at the location of his interrment
Peter S., Eric M. and myself
Reagan's Headstone at the location of his interrment
I'm not sure if this was his planned schedule or a log of what happened.
Sometime after the actual library was built, the first Air Force One was retired and moved to Simi Valley. Private Donors built a huge addition to the facility and it is glommed on quite awkwardly to the chronological tour through Reagan's life. The plane was broken into 10 parts and then reassembled onsite by Boeing.
Looking North from the Reagan Library
A piece of the Berlin Wall. We heard Reagan say "Mr. Gorbachev Tear Down This Wall" in some fashion, from some video or audio clip at least every 7-10 minutes.
On the eve of Obama's inauguration, this seemed particularly poignant when I read it.
Overall, without the Air Force One Detour, the museum is on par in size with the Carter Museum and with the same level of technology. It is clear that it was built in a different time. There is nothing interactive. But in a most critical vein, it felt like, as most of the presidential museums have been, completely propoganda. The only museum that has allowed for dissent and alternative interpretations has been the Truman library, which I think is the gold standard for presidential museum.
A common site this weekend. Both Peter and Eric are iPhone users and like the iPhone owners I know, surgically attached to their iPhones. Twitter was something I heard about all weekend.
Over and over again, different Apps of the iPhone made our lives easier. We found places to eat, my motel, driving directions to every place and Earls Donut's here in Chatsworth off of Yelp.
I saw signs all around for electric charging stations. I gather they are becoming more prevalent in Southern California. Here's what one looks like.
Instead of flying home, as I did on the way down, I elected to take the train back up to the Bay Area. I originally was to take the train back from Simi Valley, but after the foray to Earl's Donuts, I stayed in Chatsworth, which is located in the far NW corner of the San Fernando Valley. Here's a rundown of my journey home, which, was seamless. I'm quite proud of getting from LA to SF in this manner.
1) Chatsworth to Simi Valley $5.25 Amtrak/Metrolink
2) Simi Valley to San Jose $41.25 Amtrak to San Luis Obispo & bus to San Jose
3) San Jose to Millbrae $7.75 Cal Train
4) Millbrae to Glen Park, SF $3.65 BART
5) Glen Park to 30th & Mission $1.50 SF Muni
My wait in San Jose was 11 minutes. The wait Millbrae was 6 minutes and at Glen Park 4 minutes. You can't get better than that.
This is the view north along the train tracks from Chatsworth Station. The tracks turn left into the Santa Susana Pass/Tunnel where there is only one train track. Right after that red light is the location of the huge accident that happened in mid-September where a Northbound (direction we're looking) communter train blew collided head on with a freight train coming the other way.
