Saturday, June 27, 2009

A visit to The Gipper.

Two Fridays ago, my husband and I drove up to Simi Valley (California), about 30 or so miles from my house to pay a visit to The Gipper.* When we got there he, Ronald Reagan, was waiting for us and all visitors, at the main entrance of the Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. He was standing tall with a wide grin on his face. I touched him. He was cold as all statues are.

Inscription at the foot of the statue.
Click images to enlarge.

We paid our entrance and got inside the museum. It was filled with memorabilia. There were pictures of him when he was a child; when he was in the service in World War II; when he was a young actor; when he was president of the SAG (Screen Actors Guild); and when he was governor of California. Pictures of him with his wife Nancy and their children; with world leaders; with people of note and others.

The original car, a mustang convertible, he used during his campaign as governor of California.

The limousine, a 1984 Cadillac, was state of the art built exclusively for the president.

The helicopter...The Marine One.

Young visitors come as well to visit and learn about the past president. Here they are guided around by a docent who explains everything to them. Just above this floor is...

...The Air Force One.

Visitors are allowed to take a walk through this airplane. They, however, are prohibited from taking pictures of the interior. The quarters inside the plane was somewhat cramped, it being a 707 plane. Nowadays a 747 jumbo jet is used. The plane becomes Air Force One once the president sets foot on it. If it is used by others, not the president, it is not Air Force One. (Two maybe, or three, depending on the rank of the user...maybe. LOL)

There is not enough room for me to get the whole plane in one shot. I have to splice three shots together.

Information and technical details.

The floor plan.
The seal.

In the garden, right behind the library is this piece of the Berlin Wall.

About the wall...

...and the garden with the view. It was said during the president's memorial service that he loved the view on this place; that on a clear day the Pacific Ocean is visible here.

A few steps away was his final resting place...



"I know in my heart that man is good
that what is right will always eventually triumph
and there is purpose and worth to each and every life."


RONALD WILSON REAGAN
February 6, 1911 - June 5, 2004


...and we bid goodbye to The President.


*He played the role of George "The Gipper" Gipp in the film Knute Rockne, All American; from it, he acquired the lifelong nickname "the Gipper.



32 comments:

ghee said...

oh,the former pres. reagan do actually "resides" there pala?thanx for sharing,Mari.I learned a lot of interesting facts bout him.so good that they take care of him and his belongings.its so overwhelming siguro to see them in person.

and the garden!its really awesome!!

Nance said...

A very interesting and informative post, mari! AF1 707 must be really old if it transported 7 Presidents! glad they retired it.

That piece of the Berlin Wall is a treasure!

Grace said...

Great photos, Mari. That is the place that I want to go and see... very interesting stuff.

Lo Kelween said...

Hi~ Mr. Ronald Reagan. He's tall and...brown. :)

i bet you had a great time there! :)

Ebie said...

This is one of our "to go to" places and every attempt we do, it is always pre-empted. Ive seen a lot of pictures of my friends, with the AF1 background. Do they still allow it?

Vk-mahalkaayo said...

bwaaaaa

sikat ka talaga, naghintay pa sa iyo si pres. r. regan....

kaya lang ang lamig na nya....lol

i remember when i was still in phils....1980´s, i saw mustang car, gara ang may ari, naka mustang sa dumaguete....

how i wish to visit America....as what i always heard and read about there, pero kailan pa kaya.
but i have to wish n dream....priceless ito....heheheh

Berlin wall........yes, when we´re there together with kim n sascha,...it was so wonderful, kasi nakita ko talaga ang great wall of berlin, i touched it and of course, i bring a little ones,too....

the garden, ang ganda ng view.......

wish to visit this place, someday.....

thanks for sharing your visit to The Gipper.

Mari said...

ghee,
I saw a lot of his memorabilia inside the museum, but it was so many I just posted some of them here.

The garden has so many kinds of plants and flowers and they were all blooming. Really beautiful.

I learned something as well.

Thanks for the visit.

Mari said...

Nance,
Yeah, it's old.

The other side of the Berlin wall was drab. It must've been the communist side then. The free world side is colorful. It's a piece of history.

Thanks for the drop.

Mari said...

Grace,
When you get to this side of the US, make it a point to see it.

Thanks for the visit.

Mari said...

Eel Wind,
Yeah, we had a great time. We saw a piece of history.

Thanks for coming.

Mari said...

Ebie,
Yes, you can still see the interior of AFO. If you do go, be there the earliest you can, so you can get a good parking spot. When we left there were already people parked on the street and they have to walk uphill. Hingal...hingal. LOL

Mari said...

Vicki,
May ari siguro ng mustang sa Dumaguete ay mayaman.

Puwede naman kumuha kayo ng group tour. Mas mura yun.

Meron pa bang Berlin wall diyan? Siguro nga para ipaalala sa kanila ang mga nangyari sa loob ng communist Berlin.

Salamat sa bisita.

Unknown said...

Oh very informative post here Mari. Love that mustang...:)

GingGoy said...

wow! love places like that, old marine one and airforce 1...

Vk-mahalkaayo said...

hi mari,

someday, sana makarating dyan sa inyo,
bernie plan this CANUSA tour,...sana if God´s will......wish ko talaga na makita ang USA......

Berlin wall, oo meron kaunti, para daw maala-ala pa ang time before.
Pagmakita nga, parang mafeel din natin ang feelings-situation nila before.

Meron pa yon Charlie-US check point?...meron nga akong pics doon, na yon Congrats yon mga Soldiers, as i passed the boarders....for fun lang....tapos may Stamp pa ang passport mo kung gusto mo, tapos....yon meron bayad pala....hahahahah

when you visit again here in europe, don´t forget Berlin....it is a wonderful place to go n maraming makita talaga.......

Vk-mahalkaayo said...

ay oo nga, about my hardenero, magaling talaga mag-alaga, kahit he only put the stem in the soil...it will grow.....green hand?....

proud talaga ako, kasi pag may bisita sa akin, appreciated cla sa mga tanim ni bernie,....see proud si ako, akala nila ako ang nag-alaga......lol

about sascha, he is 20yrs old this coming monday, God´s will......malaki na sila,
kim will be 17 this saturday, too.

supposed to be, sascha likes to stay an appt. near in the uni. where he study, around an hr to drive from us.
He told us already........hay salamat,
hindi na tuloy, kasi Judith live next town from us....

tyaga cya to travel 2 hrs a day....lol
kasi kung doon na cya tira sa malapit sa Uni. ....di hindi cla palaging mag-meet ni judith........

para sa akin, ok na ok ako, nandito lang sa akin ang mga anak ko.....

have a nice tuesday to you.
bye

dodong flores 도동 플로오리스 said...

Wow! What an interesting walkthrough. It is as if I was touring beside you to witness the details myself. I wish in my lifetime I can visit this place too. Ronald Reagan was the first American President I came to be aware of. Then, I was in elementary during that time.
It's interesting to note as well that an authentic piece of Berlin Wall can also be found right there.
My former Martial Arts instructor was there representing the Philippines when the Berlin Wall was opened in November of 1989.

Mari said...

Pacey,
Mustang is great to drive around when it's sun shiny out there. Huwag lang uulan, no?


Backpacker,
You would've enjoyed taking pictures there. I got a lot of pictures, but they are too many to post.


vicki,
Mga dalaga at binata na sila Kim at Sascha.

Magaleng palang magtanim si Bernie mo. Buti nga yun di ka na mag-aalaga ng tanim.


dodong,
I took a lot of pictures, but they were too many to post here. It truly is a very interesting place to visit. In it is part of our history, how it all unfolded.

Had you been there you would've enjoyed taking lots of pictures.


Thanks all for the visit and comments.

Photo Cache said...

Oh what a beautiful museum. I feel like I've been there just by looking at your photos.

ghee said...

im sure nahilo ka kung ano ang ipupost mo sa dami ng mga memorabilia,Mari,haha!pero sulit talaga ang punta nyo jan.

parang ang sarap ngang tumambay jan sa garden,sarap mag muni muni...hehe

have a great week ahead,Mari!!

MeMeMe said...

Hi Mari, it's me!!!! buhay na buhay pa rin... come over so we can catch up.

Thanks for featuring Ronald Reagan's place in CA. I go by it each time i visit in Oxnard - o sige pupuntahan namin si Reagan next time we fly to CA. My favorites are the photo of the piece of the Berlin wall, and Reagan's quote, and the view of the ocean.

God Bless!
**Jeannie

docgelo said...

call me old-fashioned or out-dated but i so like going into museums and digging arts and artifacts and memorabilias from the past or anything that tell stories moreso history. so i find this entry
very impressive and interesting post, thanks for sharing this. i like your pic of the air force one. it's so cool! and that piece of berlin wall is really something.

RedLan said...

Wow, it's cool namasyal kayo at naishare ang mga magagandang views and the museum! sarap ng buhay dyan.

Vk-mahalkaayo said...

hello mari,

thank you very much for the bday greetings nina kim at sascha.

oo nga binata´t dalaga na talaga cla.
malaki na.....one more year, pag mag-18 na si kim, eh wla na akong right??????

pero, i treat them not pure european behavior, treat them parang yon pa-ma ko sa amin..............

thanks sa visit and have a wonderful sunday there.

sa amin ang lakas ng rain, ewan ang weather dito sa amin, naka gulo.

last friday- begin sa summer vacation dito sa amin rin, mostly of my friends umuwi na sa atin.

regards

Jasper said...

thanks for the detailed post. i almost feel like being there myself :)

Vk-mahalkaayo said...

hi mari,

thank you for the visit.

i hope hindi na babalik ang sakit, hirap talaga yon, hindi ko ma-open ang mouth ko at sakit na sakit.

Praise God, it´s ok na.

i hope this coming cold season, sana hindi na sasakit.

take care, too.

Ebie said...

Mari, musta na? I will try to visit it early in the morning. Kasi malapit lang kami diyan, maybe 20 miles? Cge. Thanks for your kind comments.Program lang yung mga manipulation sa photos ko. Hehehe.

Mari said...

photo cache, ghee, and dreamer jean,
There were so many photos of historical value that if I post all of them, it would be a very long entry. I'm glad though that you enjoyed my post.

Thanks.

Mari said...

docgelo,
The Berlin wall was one of the things I wanted to see and take photos of. The backside of it was so plain and drab and I figured that it must've been the east side. I took a picture of it, but didn't post it.

Thanks for the nice comment.


REDLAN,
We have a lot of museums and libraries here that take care of historical artifacts and other memorabilia.

Thanks for the visit.


vicki,
You're always welcome.

Please visit again.


jasperjugan,
Thanks for the visit.


Ebie,
Good. Better early to beat the crowd and the heat. Waaah, we are sizzling, aren't we?

Enjoy your visit to the Gipper.

Vk-mahalkaayo said...

hi mari,

thanks sa compliments sa mga pics-pics ko.....swerte lang siguro nice weather at timing lang.....lol



sigi, have a nice sunday

regards

Inday said...

Beautiful and what a stunning account of your visit. This brings tears to my eyes because I followed his Funeral on the TV and I read a book about Nancy Reagan, an unauthorized though. I believe the late Pres Reagan is a good man. The grim of Politics and the media did make them sound and looked horrible couple. Great to see a portion of the Berlin Wall. It was no longer there when I went to visit the place in 1991.

No I'm never into any businesses at all. Just very good at exploring unchartered waters, perhaps. :)

I'll feature you in my blog comments.

Mari said...

Bonnie Bonsal,

Yes, the president was a good man. You know people can always twist stories to put down their enemies.

The Berlin wall must've come later after your visit. I know, it's always been there.

Thanks for featuring me in your blog comments.

Salamat ulit.