Nixon Presidential Library

Leaving Yosemite we headed south with a couple days before eventually to meet Mom, Marlene and Oliver in San Diego.  Onions found a cheap hotel fare at a Doubletree near the Orange County Airport and I realized that we were near a presidential library! 

So now, I'm only missing Hoover, FDR, the Texas 3 (LBJ, Bush Sr. and Bush Jr.) and the soon to be open Obama museums.

Interesting.  2017!

Taking calls in the Oval.

Onions in convo on a VERY 60's color and style couch.

The layout of the museum has an interesting (and strategic) layout. It starts with the accomplishments of the Nixon years.  There are themed pods, such as this one about his trip to China and others such as his creation of the EPA.

A letter from Chou En Lai to Nixon.....it must be significant because I snapped a photo, but I don't remember why.

So, Watergate.  The elephant in the room,  was addressed in full detail...in a factual way.  

An entire hallways/exhibition area was dedicated to the timeline of Watergate.  There wasn't any discussion of the paranoia about his enemies or even the Enemies List that is often discussed, but Watergate from Nixon's point of view felt very sterile.

Turns out the Nixon Library is built on the family farm in Yorba Linda.  The house in which he was born and grew up is preserved on the grounds.

The house itself was closed for renovations.

Moving through the museum exhibition, after the Watergate and end of life exhibitions, then circled back to his early life and ended with his election to the presidency in 1968.

There was a special exhibition about the 1969 landing on the moon.

Onions simulating Neil Armstrong!  

Ahhh, found in the gift shop.  And no, we didn't purchase.  I wonder who would have been so prominantly featured before the current president? Overall, it was an enjoyable few hours.

Wintertime in Yosemite

Winter Break 2019!  Having always wanted to visit Yosemite in the winter, we seized the moment and headed into the Sierra!

We had always seen pictures of Yosemite with snow and so we finally got a chance.  Although it wasn't completely snow covered, we got the feeling of a snow-covered Yosemite.

The falls were small (alas, frozen would have been really cool) before the spring runoff!

The Camp Curry tent cabins, so hard to reserve in the summer, are also available in the winter!  Cheap ($80 a night) and plentiful!

We got the cabin that matches our area code!

The cabin sleeps four (one queen and two singles) and most importantly....a heater!

Half Dome from Camp Curry

What made this trip to Yosemite different is that all of the hikes (well most) up into the mountains and waterfalls are closed.  That fact, along with having only 8.5 hours of daylight meant sticking to the valley floor and taking it easy.  No need to rush to get the trailhead early.

Who knew there was a federal courthouse within the park?  According to Wikipedia, due to large crowds, and the park being federal land, the court hears misdemeanor and petty crime cases.

Massive piles of wood were assembled all around the valley floor.  They were like a massive campfire!

With sunset at 5PM, the nights were long. We spent most of the early evenings in the Camp Curry lodge lounge.  Here's a typical dinner,  a hybrid of snacks.

On the day we left, I got up early (well, 6AM is not early for me) and drove out to see the sunrise over the valley.