Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Fact: The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is the repository of presidential records from the administration of Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, and the burial place of the President and first lady, Nancy Reagan.
We readied ourselves for a big adventure today; we drove to Simi Valley and visited the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. More interesting is that we met with Mary’s college roommate, her daughter, and a cast of thousands!
It was going to be a 90-minute ride, so we added some time due to traffic. The traffic was nil; we made it in 90 minutes but decided to have a little bite to eat before going to the library. We went to a French Restaurant that happened to be open; it was called Jaques In Zee Box.
You can see the entire adventure here!
The weather was perfect; mid 70’s with a slight breeze!
The complex is quite impressive; President Reagan did it right!
He welcomed us at the entrance to the lobby; he was bigger than life-size.
It was so nice to have a President we were proud of instead of this bugger-brain we have today!
We took our pictures with Ronnie and Nancy; we were quite a gaggle.
One of Zack’s friends was a docent at the library, and we got a personal tour.
How we kept together for the next few hours was amazing to me!
Left to right: Dr. and Mrs Potts (Zack’s folks), Art & Becky Cheney (Bonnie’s parents), Ronnie and Nancy, Dr. Zachary & Bonnie Potts, Paul and Dr. Mary, the kids being to Boonnie and Zack!
Mary stepped up to the podium and began to speak. Even old Jimma applauded!
It was a fun stop to take pictures.
The oval office was precisely to scale. When the building was under construction, the ceiling was too high. President Reagan told the crew to lower the office by four feet so the height of the office would be precisely 18.5 feet in the center.
We learned the story of the Resolute Desk.
Off to the hangar where Air Force One (when the President was on board) looked like it could fly right through the glass window and head out to do America’s work.
Mary (sometimes doing a Vanna White reenactment) shows us the plane
The communications compartment was upfront in the aircraft. I was interested in crypto equipment. The KG-84 was proudly on display.
The original, as delivered airplane, had teletype equipment; the teletypes were replaced with computers so it would not look too old and out of place!
No matter how small, it worked!
Get ready for take-off!
The President’s office was private but had no bed, only a couch to sleep on. The 707 had 1,200 square feet of room, and the new 747 had 4,000 square feet of space!
The hangar is quite roomy!
We are gathering so we can go to lunch together!
The kids found fun things to do!
After lunch, we kept going as there was a fantastic WWII Secrets exhibit. Does Mary wonder if she should hitch a ride with the guys in the M4 tank?
Why not? See you guys at the front door!!
We walked for several hours and were ready to hit the road as we had another stop to make!
Bye-bye, all!
We popped over to Diane’s place and visited with her and the grandkids. They were studying for their finals, so we did not stay long. We did see the chickens.
Granddaughter not taller than Grandma!
We zoomed home on the 101 and then to the 405-22-55 making it by 7:00 PM. I was tired from all that driving, so we dined on the patio and crashed.
