Two Unbelievable Days Visiting Ronald Reagan's Past...

Ronald and Nancy Reagan's Ranch Address

On the morning of Monday, September 19th, Dean and I drove into Santa Barbara where we picked up our friend Peter.  He had arranged a private tour of the Reagan Ranch, high up in the Santa Ynez mountains.  It was a bit of a drive, up a winding canyon road (that Reagan used sparingly!). 

We were met at the main gate by the Ranch Caretaker, George Thompson.  He was such a kind man who took his time to show us nearly every inch of the 680 acres.  As soon as we left the main road, we were on "Pennsylvaia Avenue," and the Reagan's address (as it ws in Washinton DC) was "1600."

We loved the ranch, "Rancho Del Cielo," immediately.  The Reagan's chose to keep the original adobe house and just add to it.  It is so quaint and unpretentious.  The pig-skin chair Dean is sitting in and the table is where President signed into law his Tax-Cut Bill.  Everything is as he left it.

An interesting anecdote, was told by his personal body guard on the ranch, John Barletta.  Sam Donaldson was at the Tax Bill signing and asked President Reagan if he was going to sell the ranch any time soon.  The President replied, "You can't sell heaven!"  He loved his ranch.

Inside, the decor and furnishings spoke so much about who the man and his lady were.  Reagan loved the west and he loved his horses.  And the western style of his ranch told the story.  I loved it.

There was such a calm inside the house  as we walked from room to room.  Every nook and crany said, This is where Reagan lived.  This is the story of the man.

On the mantel in what appeared to be their family room, is a Seal of the President of The United States,

 which is done completely with nails on a polished wood circle.  It was quite a center piece for the fireplace.

The outside of the ranch was totally awesome and blew my mind completely.  Alongside of he house are two other small buildings, used to house guests and workers on the ranch.  All of the fencing around the house was done by Reagan.  He cut the wood, hauled it to the site, and built the fences.  He was not afraid of hard work. 

Reagan even built Nancy's "First Ladies Park."  It was a quiet, sweet place to walk.  Our tour was so amazing, and we have a wonderful caretaker to thank for it.  It was about 1/2 way through our tour, after we looked at the old cars and saddles, etc.that were part of Reagan's belongings, I discovered

that George Thompson was a Santa Monica High School Alumni.  We were nearly classmates.  He graduated the year before I did, and as we were naming friends from Samohi, we found that we knew a lot of the same people.  Then, I threw out the name of my dad's restarant, "Pickle Bill's" and I wish I had taken a picture of George's face.  He worked for my dad as a bus boy for a couple of years!  Oh my goodness, talk about a small world!

Reagan loved to ride, and he rode his horse every day that he was on the ranch.  His personal Secret Service body guard, John Barletta, rode with him, too.  He was selected because he knew how to ride a horse.  Reagan loved his horses and his animals.  There is a special burrial site on the property where all of the animals that died while Reagan lived on the ranch are burried.  We got to visit some of the horses--and feed them carrots!

I thought it was interesting that the original brand for the ranch (before Reagan bought it) was an arrow pointing up and down (for "Tip-Top Ranch").  Reagan changed it to a double sided arrow pointing left and right for "Dos Vistas."  When you stand up on the highest point of the ranch, where the heli-pad was for Marine One to land on, and the place where Reagan bought the ranch because he loved the view, you can see the ocean to the west and the beautiful Santa Ynez valley to the east.  Breath-taking country.

I will continue our Reagan adventure with my next post, as we visit the amazing Reagan Library in Simi Valley.

Day 3...It is Sunday!

Because our third day in Solvang was Sunday, and the festivities were still going on, we had a decision to make. Dean (being brought up in the Lutheran faith) wanted to go to the original Solvang Lutheran church. It is the oldest one, and the only Lutheran Church in the town. So we got up early so that we could attend the 9:30 a.m. service.

The Church was beautiful and full of history. After enjoying a traditional service, my flutter-bug husband took many nice pictures, both inside and outside of the building.

Hanging in the middle of the ceiling of the chapel, is this amazing model of a ship. I'm told that it has something to do with the builder of the building, perhaps he was a ship builder. That reminds me of an LDS Church in Southern Utah, near Pine Valley Mountain that was built by a ship builder, and the roof of the building was actually shaped like the hull of a ship, only upside-down because it was built by a ship builder. Looking up at this Lutheran Church, one is reminded of an upside-down hull of a ship also. Amazing.



Also of interest was the huge "Christus" statue situated in the front of the chapel. I was particularly interested because this statue is the one that the LDS Church uses in many of its Visitor's Centers all over the world, and I have an 18" replica of it at home. It was of interest to Dean, because the man who originally sculpted the statue lived in Denmark...he was a "Dane!" And the original statue remains in a Church in Denmark. The story is told that originally the sculptor had made the statue with arms raised up toward the heavens, but while it was "curing," he covered it with a damp cloth overnight and the arms were down, open to his "sheep" when the sculptor found it in the morning. He left it that way; he figured the Lord had wanted it to show a more loving stance. Whether that story is true or not, it does give the statue more warmth.

Ah! What is a trip to Solvang without a visit to "Pea Soup Andersen's" for a bowl of their world-famous split pea soup. The restaurant has been there for decades. I remember going there on a trip that Gerry and I made to Solvang over 50 years ago. Needless to say, the soup was still delicious and we left with not only our tummy's full, but a few souveniers, as well.


Back to the festivities...we joined the fun at the park where there was a lot of entertainment and frolicking going on. Have you ever seen anything cuter than these adorable little children all decked out in their native Danish costumes. They were dancing to beat the band...and there was quite a good Danish band playing. Watching these little ones brought joy to our hearts. They are the same ones we saw Friday night at the opening program under the big tent.


Check out the big Uncle Sam! He was a hoot! How he stayed up on those 4 foot stilts, I will never know. The bottoms were like little "baby" feet, complete with tennis shoes. I'd say he practiced a lot and didn't get rattled when someone bumped into him. I saw him lose his balance once and he did not fall. Amazing. He was funny, too. He walked around, telling (sometimes "lame") jokes, and everyone (especially the children) just loved him. Later, he turned up in a crazy basketball outfit with a hoop on his head and played basketball with the children. Gotta love these guys who get out there and not only have fun, but make fun for others.

With the day drawing to a close, everyone gathered at the park to see the end of the parade and watch the children parade through the park. Everyone had a great time and we were so happy that we came to share this celebration with them. The only thing left for us on this day, was to see the live play, "A Fairy Tale," at their outdoor theater.



It was a magical play, complete with music and singing. It was the story of Hans Christian Anderson and the creation of his Fairy Tales. Nearly all of them were portrayed in the story. There was a little boy of maybe 9 or 10, who played Hans Christian Anderson as a boy, and he was the show stealer. He was such a delight. We expect to see more of this young man in the future. We had front row seats on the east side of the stage, so we saw a lot of the action "up close, and personal!"

After the play, we walked back to our Time Share, still feeling the magic of the play we had just witnessed and with a new respect for Hans Christian Anderson and his amazing gift for story telling. It was the end of another perfect day in Solvang, California.

Solvang Danish Days...75 Years...

Saturday morning, September 17, 2011. It's the Danish Days celebration! Not only is it the 100th Birthday Celebration of the town of Solvang, but they are also celebrating the 75th year of the Danish Days Celebration. Let the fun begin!

My good friend, Joan (Tommasino) Trent and her husband Bruce, met us at our Time Share early in the morning. They drove all the way from West Hills in the San Fernando Valley to join us for the day and the celebrations. I've known Joan since I was three years old and we have been friends ever since.


The first event of the day was breakfast! And what would a traditional Danish breakfast be without Aebleskivers and sausage! Ah! You're asking what are aebleskivers? They are the most delicious little round pancakes served with rasperry syrup! Delicious. Traditionally, they are made with apples or applesauce (hence the name "aeble") inside each ball, but that is tedious work, and I'm sure when they are served by the thousands, a bit too time consuming.

The first thing Joan wanted after breakfast was a candied apple. So off to the shop we went and made our purchase, and enjoyed them emensely.


With full tummies, we walked around the town to enjoy the festivities. Thre was a young man there carving wood with a chain saw. He was making the most unbelievable pieces imaginable. I particularly loved the bench with a horse's head on each end. I could just see it on Mark's ranch. But, alas, $500.00 was a bit of a stiff price for me to pay, and besides, how on earth would I have gotten it on the airplane?

While we were engrossed with the wood carving, the beginning of the parade came by. We stopped what we were doing and enjoyed the festivities. It was a wonderful parade, reminiscent of the ones in my home town of Santa Monica, when I was growing up.


After the parade, we wandered through the town and looked at all of the displays and enjoyed the festivities. We wandered into the Viking Village and enjoyed learning about what it was like to live in the time of the Vikings. It was very educational.



Anyone for lunch? That was another Danish treat. We thoroughly enjoyed our little Danish open-faced sandwiches...one with chicken and one with beef. They were delicious.

After lunch, we enjoyed a liesurely walk to the museum to learn more about this quaint little town. The first thing we were treated to was another story-telling time by Hans Christian Anderson. He was amazing with the little children and kept that Danish accent throughout his presentation. We really enjoyed him and his program.


Do you think it was a full enough day? Oh, my! Everywhere we turned, we found something else to do. But, these old folks were tired after the museum (where Dean tried his hand at lace making and it intrigued me so much, that I vowed that I was going to learn, too!), that we just wandered back to our Time Share, relaxed a bit in our homey atmosphere and then said good-bye (or should I say, "so long just for now") to our dear friends. It has been a very long, but thoroughly enjoyable day!

A Vacation to End All Vacations...

We flew out of Portland (PDX) en route to Santa Barbara, CA on Friday, September 16th to enjoy our last vacation of the year. We had planned this vacation carefully, but could not imagine what was in store for us.

The first surprise was the "free upgrade" to a brand new, 2012 Mustang to cruise around in while we enjoyed the California sunshine. It was the perfect color...red! I don't have to tell anybody, I was in "car lovers heaven" with a ride in this car. The only thing better would have been if someone had told me, "it's yours!"

It was about a 25 minute drive from Santa Barbara (actually Goleta, where the airport is) to Solvang. You don't even have to guess who got to drive the Mustang first...me, of course! We loved the ride up the coast looking at the beautiful blue Southern California Pacific Ocean. We didn't stop anywhere along the way, because this weekend in Solvang was their 100th Birthday Celebration with Danish Days, and the opening parade and ceremonies were tonight.

We arrived at our beautiful World Mark Time Share and checked in. Our room was amazing! But, they always are. It is always like a home away from home for us.




We quickly settled in, changed our clothes and headed downtown (walking distance) to enjoy the candle light parade up Copenhagen Street. It all ended at the big tent where we enjoyed music, dancing, speeches, and getting to meet the 75th annual Princess of the festival. It was all great fun.


This little family was so adorable. The mother is from Denmark and the three little ones that are hers, were the life of the party! One of the highlights of the show was the character, Hans Christian Anderson, singing one of his songs and cutting out his amazing cut-work. We learned that that is what Hans Christian Anderson did whenever he told a story. He would cut whle telling the story, and when the story ended, the cut work was always related tothe story. It was amazing.

As the day came to an end, we walked back to our room and enjoyed the left-over feelings of a really fun evening. It was a perfect day, and so we say, "good-night." I will continue the recap of our vacation with my next writing.

The Concert to Beat ALL Concerts...

On Friday, August 26, 2011, Dean and I ventured to Portland, Oregon to experience our second Josh Groban Concert. The last time we saw him was in Washington, I believe in 2002 or 2003 for his "Closer" tour. That was 8 or 9 years ago! And Josh has matured!



He's calling this tour his "Straight To You" Tour...and that is exactly what it is. He interacts up close and personal with the audience, like I have never seen anyone do before.




We had Floor seats, in Row 20, and they were superb seats. But, the best part was that he opened in the middle of the floor, on a raised platform and Dean and I stumbled on this fact quite by accident.







Dean, the forever snapping photos person that he is, saw this huge square in the middle of the floor section and he was interested in the crew who would controll the lighting, sound and graphics displays via 5 or 6 computers all set up.



Then, he noticed in front of all of this equipment, there was a piano and a couple of mikes set up. He enquired what this was all about, and was told this was where Josh would "open" his show. So, he grabbed me, and we stood within 5 feet of the platform to watch this opening. We were not disappointed!

The house lights went dark, and we got to see Josh enter and climb the stairs (he later referred to as "G-A-P-S!" Which stands for Groban Access Points. Very clever. He said they were his Body Guard's nightmare!). And then, he sat down at the piano and began his first number. I was too enthralled about being so close that I didn't put te name of it in my memory bank!

The following pictures are a few of the snaps that we got there on his floor stage.









From the floor stage, he ran to the stage to do the rest of his 2 hour, non-stop performance. He has amazing energy; an incredible orchestra, consisting of 2 violinists, 1 viola player, 1 cello player, 2 percussionists, 2 french horn players, an amazing trumpet player (who blew Dean away with one number with only piano, Josh and trumpet!) a guitar player (phenomenal!) and a piano player; and an energetic and talented stage crew.

For a great deal of his numbers, he accompanied himself on the piano. How he does that, I will never know...and he does it with his eyes closed!



Dean and I expecially loved the part when he came down into the audience and interacted with them. Before the show began, audience members (who had their cell phones) texted him questions and then during the show, he answered three of them. One was from a mother who asked if Josh would sing with her daughter. He came down into the audience and got her and took her up onto the center platform and they sang a beautiful rendition of "Happy Birthday!" It was cute, fun and the girl did have a nice voice.



Toward the end of his performance, Josh did some amazing drum sets. The young man has a world of talent. And he expresses his gratitude to the "break" he received as a child with music that was available both in the schools he attended and through after school arts programs. He is an advocate for the Arts and if you go to his web site (joshgroban.com), you can donate to help kids who are missing out on these programs because of all of the cuts from schools of the Arts. It is a wonderfully worthy cause.



The one number that stood out as the best of the show, was his tribute to our wounded warriors and their families who have come home since the war. He visits them in Walter Reid Hospital and Bathesda Naval Hospital. He has been so touched by them, that he wrote "The War At Home." It continues to bring tears to my eyes.

All in all, the concert in Portland was something that I cannot find words to describe. We shall look forward to his next one, and hope it isn't 9 years down the road.

YeeHaw...

Every once in a blue moon, an opportunity comes to just get away from it all and escape to another "world!" Such was our opportunity this past weekend, when we did just that. The other "world" we escaped to was the 4th Annual Brownsville (Oregon) Music Festival. Brownsville is a little farming community south and east of Albany, Oregon, where once a year the whole world converges out in a big old field which has been turned into a country fair atmosphere.

The headliner we came to see was Alan Jackson, a long time favorite of mine whose hit country songs could just about circle the globe! I remember him most for the song he did right after 9/11, "Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning..." on that September day? I remember it for two reasons. Number one, it spoke of a time in our history (the 10th anniversary we are about to observe) when all the world mourned the impossible happening on our soil. It was the day when four airliners were hijacked by suicidal terrorists and plowed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania.

The second reason that song was so dear to my heart is becaus it was the song that my dying mother requested that I play over and over again for her when she was tucked into her bed and ready to sleep. She would say to me, "Put on that Alan Jackson song for me, would you?" And I would play it for her.

The Music Festival was a three day affair. We attended on Saturday, August 20th and the heat was intense. We are told that it was 92 degrees and the hottest day of the summer. The crowd was the biggest I have seen in ages. There must have been 50,000 people there, including men, women and children. Les Schwab (an Oregon tire king) had set up a tent and supplied water bottles and saltd pretzels for those who got too much sun. I was numbered among the many who suffered in the heat.

I thought I could "tough it out" and endure the heat, but soon realized that that was a crazy idea. I suffered from heat stroke twice, got out of the sun, drank about a gallon of water and ate probably a bag of pretzels. I covered my face and neck with ice and dumped water down my neck and back. Thank goodness for Les Schwab. (I also bought a cowboy hat to cover my head...I have to admit my husband was right...I needed a hat! Darn, it's hard to say I was wrong!)



The first "warm up" singer to entertain us was Sunny Sweeny. I can't say that I have ever heard of her, but I was impressed with the music she shared with us. She has an itty-bitty voice that just rings of country/western flavor. I really liked her.



The next act to take the stage was Steve Azar. I have heard his songs before, and though he wasn't as energetic as I remember him, he was entertaining. He plays a mean guitar.



Third up was one of my favorites, Phil Vassar. He had the most energetic program ever. He plays an amazing piano, while he sings upbeat country/western songs. I really loved his program. I will definitely be online when I get home to purchase his latest CD.

The festival planned its programming beautifully, giving about an hour between programs for folks to cool off, shop in the many vender booths set up around the venue, or find something really yummy to eat. We filled up on tri-tip sandwichs, corn on the cob, lemonade, ice cream and, of course, water!

Finally, at 9:30 P.M., the star we came to see, took the stage! There was a phenominal sunset, huge globe lights set up all around the grounds, and a stage complete with screens to view him "up close and personal."



We were not disappointed. There on stage, bigger than life, was one of my all-time favorites, Alan Jackson. (I must say, he's aged some over the years!) He didn't disappoint me, either. He sang nearly all of his #1 hits, plus many others that I am familiar with. But the highlight for me, was when he sang, "Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning?" Tears flowed, as I remembered the nighttime routine of playing that song for my Mom! Thank you, Alan, for singing that one just for me!



And so, ends the 4th Annual Brownsville Music Festival, sponsored by Bi-Mart (and others) and begins our long, slow journey back to Albany (20+ miles) to our motel. Needless-to-say, with 50,000 people trying to get out of a parking lot, funneling down into one lane to get out on the highway, it was a very, very slow process. It took us nearly one and one-half hours to get just out of the parking lot. We got to our motel at 1:30 A.M., two very tired old people!

I do have to say, though, that the whole day, in spite of heat stroke, drowning in water, sitting in hot sun, slowly creeping out of the parking lot (sometimes not even moving for 15-20 minutes at a time), and getting to bed after 2:00 A.M., it was all completely worth it and we will be back again next year!

Happy Birthday, Heather...

Tuesday, August 2, 2011 Happy Birthday, Heather...

Today is my baby girl's birthday! She's not 2 1/2 any more, nor is she 10, 20, or even 30. She's a big girl with babies of her own. But, in my heart and memory, she will always be my "baby girl!"

I want to tell you about the Story of The Grapes.

When Heather was just a baby, she found comfort in her thumb and her favorite blankie. Having a thumb-sucker was not a new experience for me. Her big sister, JerriAnne had found comfort in her thumb as well. We tried everything with JerriAnne, short of somehow hiding her thumb, and nothing worked. She even sucked off the tobasco sauce we put on her thumb and seemed to enjoy it.

Having had those experiences with JerriAnne, we decided not to go to such lengths with Heather. She would outgrow it.

By the time Heather was one year old, we noticed a phenomenon happening that I had not seen with JerriAnne. She lost interest in the contents of her bottle, but started sucking her thumb while rubbing the bottle's nipple between the fingers of her other hand and holding it close to her face. This had replaced her blankie. I figured this was a good time to get rid of her bottle, and I did. She didn't miss the bottle, but she missed the nipple.

By the time she was walking quite well, I found Heather standing in front of our coffee table, playing with the plastic grapes that I had in a bowl on the table. She had found a replacement for her bottle's nipple--a plastic grape! She would squeeze the little grapes and suck her thumb and stand there for a very long time.

After a while, I noticed that the grapes started to disappear off of the clusters and I would find loose grapes all over the house. Heather had discovered that they pulled off! Quite a resourceful little one, she was! Well, that went on for years. I had to keep buying new clusters of grapes every year to replace the now bare ones that Heather had stripped of their tempting fruit! Why, I even found a grape in the parking lot of the local supermarket, and I knew Heather had been there! It brought a smile to my lips.

She eventually grew out of both the grapes and her thumb and turned out to be one of my choicest daughters. What a treasure she is in my life and in the lives of her husband and her children. Now, every time I see a cluster of plastic grapes, I am reminded of a little girl standing next to the coffee table with her thumb in her mouth, squeezing her prize for the moment.

God has blessed me with wnderful memories and He blessed me with an awesome daughter on August 2, 1972. Happy Birthday, again, dear daughter. I love you!