Reagan Presidential Library

I had the unusual experience to travel to Simi Valley for a work meeting. I had never been to Simi Valley before, and as a native Californian, I am always embarrassed by the fact that I haven't been all over my own state. The meeting itself was as I expected it to be, and while some things were accomplished, there were many more problems discovered.  So, a meeting being a meeting, I made the best of it, and did everything I could to deal with the fact that I was spending another night away from Ken and the girls.  


What was a surprise was that I found myself only 1.9 miles away from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.  I talked it over with Ken and we decided that if I was this close, that I should check it out.  I didn't think there was any way that it would take me the 2 - 3 recommended hours to go through it, but it did!  I found that there is a ton of renovations being done in preparation for the Centennial celebration of Reagan's birth, so some things were moved around, but even with the fact that I wasn't able to see EVERYTHING, I loved what was there.

The view was amazing!

The first part of the tour was the Oval Office.  While it bother me as a taxpayer that money is used to redecorate for each president, I understood the need to have a room fit your personality.  I have to say that I liked the warm, neutral colors and Western theme that Reagan had and it was cool to see the set up - very awe inspiring.

The docent offered some great information: explaining the President's Seal, how the room had to be re-done when Reagan realized there were errors, etc.  I then moved out of the way because of a class tour and headed to see Air Force One.


Nothing prepares you to see a full plane inside of a building, and I also was not prepared for all of the vehicles and for Marine One.  I enjoyed reading about the many travels of Reagan during his different years and what he had done and attempted do to one those travels.   It was interesting to remember that this was the Cold War years.  I remember being a child and then a teenager and hearing the demands from Reagan for the Berlin Wall to be removed.  I was in Western Europe in June 1990 and saw the remains of the Wall after it had been pulled down by the people, but to remember what life was like at the time was a bit weird and surreal.  Of course, I wasn't alive when the fallout shelter craze was going on, but I remember hearing my parents and grandparents talk about the fears at the time.  Seeing the information, propaganda and advertisements along with the video of news conferences was astounding and gave a great depiction of the times.


Then, it was time for me to check out the plane.  If I had known about the souvenir photos, I totally would have dressed nicer!  It was fun to do "The Wave" at the front of the plane, and since I'm me, I had to buy the silly picture.  

I expected Air Force One to be larger!  I know that some alterations were made when the plane was turned into a museum, but still - it's really small!  How does anything get done!  The docents had great information, and I loved listening to the stories.  I realized how old I am when I saw the IBM typewriter and remembered learning to type on one!  


Seriously, you expect for the plane to be large and accommodating, but that simply was not the case.  The docents kept telling me that Obama has a much larger plane, but I still do not see that it would be a great way to travel and work.  So much has to get done while they're in the air.  I also did not realize  - and then realized that I must not have paid attention in school myself - that the media pays the going rate of a ticket plus $1 to ride on Air Force One.  What a concept.

After checking out the plane, I went down to the Pub, and was disappointed to find that it was closed.  How cool would it have been to have a drink there to just say that I did it?  Oh well, but I snapped a picture and went back to the main level for the other side of the Library.


The first thing that you see when you walk out back is the piece of the Berlin Wall, which I learned was bought, paid for and transported by Carl Karcher.  Who would have thought the creator of Carl's Jr restaurants would have been politically active and a friend of a President? I saw many famous names throughout the gardens being thanked for their donations such as Merv Griffin, etc.  

West Berlin side

East Berlin side.  The E1 stood for the purchaser information for tracking and shipping

After viewing this piece of the Berlin Wall, I walked around to take in the entire view of the Valley and then went to see Reagan's burial place.  I have often thought if it would be worth it to be buried as family and friends may not visit, but that point for me is mute since Ken and I will be buried together in a National Cemetery.  But, being a US President not only means people will visit your grave, but you're buried at your own Library, so no one has a choice but to see you.  The location was beautiful and the actual site was very tasteful.

I had been told by one of the docents that I simply COULD NOT miss the White House miniature and the Christmas Tree celebration.  When I first went through, I saw a really cute Christmas display where professional pictures were being taken.  Once again, I had to buy the picture and I chose the Nutcracker Themed tree.  I still wished I had been dressed nicer, but it was still totally cool.

How cool to combine Christmas and a souvenir at the same time!

Once I was done, I asked about the Christmas displays and was told that this was NOT the Christmas tree display.  When I walked through the corridor, I was taken back by what I found.  What an amazing thing!  There was a tree for each decade of our Country's history decorated with items to depict the decade.  I wandered around and took a look at each tree.  Some were rather plain and uneventful to me, but I enjoyed most of them - especially the tree that showed the decade in which I was born.  I laughed out loud to see it and caused some people to look at me funny.

Now, as much as I love Christmas and the trees, the White House miniature was breathtaking!  I still cannot believe that people took the time to create this and made sure that everything was perfectly to scale and authentic!

When you first see the model, it's the outside of the White House.  I was peeking into windows and looking at the models of the guards and other people.  It was a lot of fun.

And then I got to the back of the model!  It was all open and I was able to see the replicas, the flags, the carpeting, etc.  There are not words to describe the intricacies that were evident. Again, this was simply breathtaking, and the docent was completely right and I am so very glad that I did not miss this!

I bought the little items from the gift shop: a shot glass for Ken, a pin for my collection and pencils for the girls.  When I headed back to my car, I could not believe that it had been just over two hours.  I had not seen the Archives, but I figured that I would be able to go back and hopefully have a reason to do some research there.  


Again, I'm glad that I made the trip.  I ended up in traffic on the way home, but it was totally worth it to have seen one more amazing thing that California has to offer!