Friday, October 29, 2010

Friday, October 29, 2010

P6210001Where were we today?  Looks like Arizona and saguaro cactuses.  Not much to report today except that we drove 400 miles and saw the cities and the desert.  We drove miles and miles and saw nothing that resembled civilization except the highway.  Some day we will become dependent on the desert as an energy source; solar power and wind power.  We already have hundreds of wind turbines in the Palm Springs area on I-10.

Yesterday I said we were going to Bisbee.  That didn’t happen.  We decided to make a direct line to Donna, TX.

Once we get to Donna we will stop the blog until we start traveling again. Maybe our last blog will be pictures of Victoria Palms Resort, our Texas winter home. I hope everyone has enjoyed following us, and I hope you have learned more about our great national parks and monuments. 

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Today it was all about meteorites and moon rocks.  The manager of the RV park is Jonathon Martin.  His father was a professional photographer and developed some of the photos from the Apollo 11 space mission that landed on the moon in 1969.  ( I hope I get most of these facts right).

When the shuttle returned  one of the sealed boxes of moon rocks lost its seal and the rocks were no longer of value for scientific study.  So the rocks were broken into smaller pieces and given to people who worked on the mission.  Jonathon’s mother, a math professor at UCLA, also had something to do with it. Jonathon’s family got one of the moon rocks and now Jonathon has it.  He’s very proud of the rock and the story behind it.  He also has a small, but extremely heavy rock that was part of a meteor that crashed into the hills around Yucca Valley.  Jonathon and his daughter, Heather, watched through a telescope as the meteorite fall to the earth and were able to find it some 75 miles away the next day! That’s pretty amazing! 

PA287250Here I’m holding a rock that was part of a meteor.  The density of this rock is heavier than any other material on earth. 

PA287256PA287257Here’s student and teacher studying the moon rock.  Jonathon was a science teacher in Austin, TX and really knows his stuff.  In the photo below, my foot is resting on the moon rock, so  I was able to say that I stood on the moon’s surface.  Did I say that right?

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PA287263This is a photo of the Yucca Valley RV Park where we stayed.  It’s a very nice park.  Just imagine, we traded that for a spot behind the Shell station in Gila Bend, AZ with no cable and zero channels on the TV.  This is the second night of the World Series, and I will have to wait for the results.

Tomorrow we head for Bisbee, AZ. 

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

At 6:30 A.M. the cell phone rang.  It was our son, Eric, calling (9:30 A.M. Atlanta time) to say that Connie’s Face Book account has been compromised.  Someone hacked into it, and they went into Connie’s chat room and said that we had been robbed in London and needed money immediately. DO NOT CHAT WITH HER UNTIL SHE GIVES YOU THE OK! Just so you know, we are in California and if we have been robbed, it was at the gas pump.  Needless to say that got Connie’s day off to a fast start.  She went from sound asleep to bright-eyed and on the laptop.  She’s working to resolve the problem and wanted to tell all her “friends” that she might not be on FB for a while, but she will be back.  Wow! Can you imagine not being on FB? 

We visited Joshua Tree National Park later in the morning.  This park is 794,000 acres of desert.  Half of this is the Mojave Desert, above 3,000 ft. and half is the Colorado Desert, below 3,000 ft.  The park is ‘as advertised,’ covered with Joshua trees, it also has many flora and fauna unique to the high-plains desert.  The park was declared a national monument in 1936 by FDR and in Clinton’s presidency, 1994, it was renamed a national park.  One of the interesting features of the park is that from Keys View (5,185 ft.) you can see the San Andreas Fault.  You can also see Palm Springs (150 ft. elevation) and I 10.

PA277231PA277234Connie is standing beside the park’s namesake, a Joshua tree.  The visitor center that we went to was in the town of Joshua Tree.  It was in the same building as a donut and coffee shop - that was a first.  Usually the visitor centers are very impressive but not this one.

Below is the general topography of the park.  Notice the Yucca plants in the foreground.

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PA277242PA277237The photo on the left is signed as the Mojave Desert.  To the right is the vista from Keys View. 

Today was an easy day.  We visited the park and were back to the MH by mid-afternoon.  I think we’re going to be heading directly to South Texas and get settled in at Victoria Palms.  Let winter begin!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Today we hit the freeways of the Los Angeles area with the MH and toad.  We had to drive from Simi Valley to Yorba Linda - a distance of about 90 miles, all on the freeways.  Most of the time the traffic was, in my opinion, fast and heavy. 

The Nixon Library and Museum was our destination in Yorba Linda.  The Nixon Presidential Library and Museum is the 11th of the 12 presidential libraries that we have visited.  The only one we haven’t seen is the Gerald Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, MI.  I mistook the location of the Gerald Ford Museum as Ann Arbor rather than Grand Rapids when we went through Michigan on our way to Canada. By the time I discovered that the museum was in Grand Rapids, we were way past it.  Maybe next year!

This library was dedicated in 1990 for the 37th President of the United States.  His birth place and grave site are next to the library.  The museum is full of exhibits because president Nixon was involved in government for most of his adult life.  The exhibits cover his terms as representative, senator,  two terms as vice president during the Eisenhower administration and his two terms as president.  Oh, not quite two terms; Watergate shorten his second term.  What a senseless waste of presidential power.  Both Richard M. Nixon and his wife Pat are buried at the library.

PA267183The photos below are of the garden/reflecting pool area and of his boyhood home and birthplace.

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PA267185PA267189To the left is Nixon as the vice president.  Next are campaign pictures from the ‘68 campaign.  The sign below says it all.  When Nixon lost to John F. Kennedy in 1960, he got out of politics for a few years.  This sign just seemed interesting to me.

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PA267194PA267196These are some interesting statues in the museum.  They are all to perfect scale and represent world known personalities (leaders).  You can double “right click” any photo and enlarge it to get a better look.  How many people can you identify?

PA267205This is a “Moon Rock” from the one of the trips to the moon.

PA267210This is one of the large paintings in the replica of the East Room of the White House.  This is one of my favorite presidents, Theodore Roosevelt.

The below photos are of Pat Nixon and both of the Nixon’s head stones. 

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Monday, October 25, 2010

The first thing we did today was take the MH in for service.  It’s funny because when we pulled in to the service area, a lady came out and said someone would be with us shortly.  Then she came back and said they were making room for us.  I thought, “That’s OK”, and waited a while.  Then the lady returned and said we would have to wash the MH.  I told her I had never had to wash the MH before someone serviced it.  "Service?”, she said. She thought we were delivering a new MH, not coming in for service.  So finally we were sent to the service department. 

After we filled out the service order, we showed the service rep what was wrong.  Wouldn’t you know, everything worked just fine,  The slide room worked fine, and the water issue worked as it should.  He said they couldn’t replace any parts if everything worked.  I agree.  They might replace one thing, and it might turn out to be something else.  End of service appointment!

We took the MH and toad and went to the Reagan Presidential Library.  The museum part is undergoing a $15,000,000 (all donated money) renovation and most of the exhibits are closed to the public.  The oval office was the only exhibit that was open except for Air Force One, the grounds, and the motor cycle exhibit.

The library and museum is located in Simi Valley, CA, 40 miles from downtown Los Angeles.  It was dedicated in 2001 and President Reagan was buried on the grounds in 2004.  Boone Pickens donated the money for the Air Force One pavilion.  After the 707 was flown to California, the people from Boeing disassembled the plane and reassemble it at the museum.  It has been the most visited of all the presidential libraries.  That makes sense - California has 38,000,000 residents.

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PA257112PA257121The original desk in the Oval Office in D.C.  was built from the wood from the  British ship Resolute.  It was gifted to the United States by Queen Victoria in 1880.  Every president since 1880 has used the desk with the exception of presidents Johnson, Nixon, and Ford.  The original desk was open between the two pedestals, but was enclosed by FDR to conceal his leg braces.  This one, obviously, is an identical reproduction.

PA257126PA257153Air Force One and Marine One.

PA257132PA257146The motor cycle collection covered early and late model bikes.  The bike on the right is an Indian and was use by Steve McQueen in the movie “The Great Escape.”  It was also used in “The Magnificent Seven” and “Bullitt.”

PA257142PA257172On the left is the Jelly Belly jelly bean display.  The pictures in the background are mosaics made with…………………..jelly beans.  The photo on the right is a part of the Berlin Wall.

PA257165PA257157The grounds and views around the museum are beautiful and fashioned to celebrate the Grand Old Party.

PA257171PA257170The grave site of the 49th President of the United States seems very simply stated.   The life of Ronald Reagan is a very interesting and impressive American story. 

Sunday, October 24, 2010

We have some catching up to do.  This addition of the blog will look like a photo gallery.  Lots of pictures to share.

It’s Sunday night, and we haven’t written about Thursday night and later.  After we went to the Hearst Castle we went back to Morro Bay and met Christina Elliott-Sheffield, a high school classmate of ours.  Connie and Christina were very close friends from kindergarten through high school.  We met at the motorhome and visited for several hours.  Then we went to San Luis Obispo for a brief city tour, farmer’s market and dinner by the creek that runs through the downtown.  We left for Los Angeles on Friday morning and got to our KOA near Ventura by early afternoon. 

When we got parked and leveled the MH we usually run out the slide rooms.  On Friday, we could not get the bedroom slide to do anything.  It wouldn’t even make an attempt to slide out.  I call the service desk at Winnebago, and he suggested a couple of things to try.  I disconnected a fuse and put it back together and the slide room went out.  Then I tried to bring it in and nothing happened.  One more call to Winnebago, and we agreed that the electric motor is probably shot.  We made an appointment with the local Winnebago dealer and will have them look at the problem on Monday.  If parts are needed we will have to stay in the area a couple of more days.  I will also have them fix a couple of other issues when it’s in the shop.  It seems there is always something to go wrong.  (It doesn’t just seem that way, it happens all the time.)

Friday night, we ventured over to my cousin, Tom and Barb McConville’s, for a visit.  Tom and Barb are both teachers.  Tom teaches at a private school, Villanova in Ojai, and Barb teaches special ed at the high school in Oxnard.  We visited about “cousin stuff” and had pizza.  It’s always FUN to get together with family.

On Saturday, we drove to the beach in Oxnard and spent most of the afternoon and evening with Larry and Shelia Chase.  Larry was also in our high school class.  We had lunch and watched Wisconsin beat Iowa. They gave us a tour of the area, and we stopped at the Channel Island Visitor’s Center. We had a fabulous time!  Our seafood dinner was fabulous also! 

Today, Sunday, we visited the Gamble House and Huntington Gardens and Museum.  In the evening we went out to dinner with my cousin Tom.  Barb was in San Francisco baby sitting their grandson.  It was quite a day.

PA217016This is exactly how Connie and Christina act (giggle) when they get together.  It’s funny just to listen and watch them.

PA227019This is a “morro” (a monolith) at Morro Bay.

PA257178PA257181My cousin Tom McConville and his wife Barb. 

PA237023PA237033When we were with Larry and Shelia Chase we drove to the Channel Island National Park Visitor’s Center.  We got the “Passport” book stamped, but did not take the boat ride to the islands.

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The Gamble House was built by the Architects Greene & Greene in 1908.  It’s one of the top ten residential homes in the Los Angeles area.  The Gambles were owners of the Proctor & Gamble Company and built this as a winter home to escape the winters in Cincinnati.  The house cost $50,000 to build back then and today it’s priceless.  The attraction to the house is that all the interior is wood and most of the joinery is exposed.  There are also many different types of woods used.  The front door is teak.  Other woods are Douglas Fir, Oak, and Cherry.  The architects designed everything - the house, most of the furniture, the carpets, and the landscaping.  Two of the bedrooms upstairs were furnished in original Stickley furniture.  Some of the Greene & Greene furniture is so historic that it was on loan to the Huntington Museum for a special exhibit.  In the early 60’s, heirs of the Gambles considered selling the home.  They put the home on the market, but when they overheard one couple talk about  painting the interior wood paneling and trim WHITE, they decided to give the home to USC and the City of Pasadena.  In 1978, it was designated as a National Historic Site.

PA247066The Huntington  is the residence of Henry Huntington and was built in 1911.  Since then several other buildings have been added.  One gallery (55,000 sq. ft.) “display one of the finest collections of European art in the nation.” Here  you’ll can see photos we took of the original Blue Boy and Pinkie.  Another gallery (16,000 sq. ft.) has American art. I especially noticed several Remington bronzes and several pieces of early American furniture.  The chest on chest was made in Massachusetts, pre-1775!  The chair and music stands were made by Sam Maloof.  Sam specialized in custom rocking chairs, some of which ended up in the White House and the Smithsonian.  He died within the past two years.  He was over 90 years old, still worked every day and had orders for chairs that would have kept him busy another ten years.  The museum even has a copy of the Gutenberg Bible.  There is also a collection of rare books.

PA247076PA247075The gardens were past their peak and you had to look to find the really beautiful roses, but there were some.

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Thomas Paine’s words are as true today as when he spoke them in 1776!