Santa Barbara

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My first stop when I got out of the desert was Wilderness Lakes Resort in Menifee, California. Beverley’s corporate office is close to the resort and she was flying in to attend meetings and spend a couple of days with me. One of the lady friends I had made this past winter used to be a tour guide in Santa Barbara invited us to meet her so she could show us around which was something that appealed to both Bev and myself. One of the things on my bucket list is to drive the California #1 coastal highway, and complete the U.S. 101 highway from north to south. I had driven quite a large section of that in Washington and Oregon last fall. So we joined the #1 at Laguna Beach and followed it up through Newport Beach, Long Beach, Santa Monica, Malibu; all the places we have heard of in the movies. It was a lovely day and the trip was worth the extra miles. Santa Barbara is a lovely place and we thoroughly enjoyed Betty’s guided tour.
The next day we made a short detour so that I could go to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Located in a beautiful spot the Library is one of the best I’ve been to. Reagan certainly had a very interesting life. I was so lucky to be at the Library while the original Magna Carta was on display. The display is in a climate controlled room, the exhibit case is sensative to a person's body heat so must not be touched. The document is absolutely magnificent; it was written by monks on parchment made from sheep skin and is all in latin; but what is amazing
is that each letter and each word is so precise, it looks like it could have been typewritten. I was really impressed that it would be allowed to leave England, but was told by one of the "guards" that the Library had to take out an additional $20 million of insurance to have it here on display.

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Photos

Santa Barbara Courthouse
The adobe brick courthouse is built following the Mexican style, just beautiful inside but not very photogenic.

Santa Barbara
This is the view from the Courthouse roof the whole city is very Spanish.

Santa Barbara Mission
This is a museum these days unlike several of the old missions that are still holding Sunday Mass.

Washbasin
In 1808 the Chumash Indians built this washbasin or lavanderia which is fed with water from the complex aquaduct system. The Chumash were very particular about personal hygene.

Santa Barbara Pier
We sat and enjoyed a adult beverage while we "people watched."

Long Beach
Very typical of most of the places we went through. These condos are right on the beach

Houses
Needless to say some of the houses in the hillsides looked enormous. Betty said they would be worth around 10 million dollars.

Boys and their toys
It seems that everyone in southern California has to have a motor cycle. This was just one of the bar spot gathering places along the coast

Reagan Library
Had to have my photo taken with Ronnie

Diaries
Reagan hand wrote in his diary every day he was in Office.His handwriting is quite legible.

Airforce One
Most of the other Libraries have had a mock up of the Oval Office on Airforce One. Reagan's had the whole plane!

Back Lawn
I remember watching Reagan's funeral which took place here with the view of Semi Valle.

Semi Valley
Just a beautiful spot.

Magna Carta
I was really lucky to be at the Library while the original Magna Carta was on display--of course they didn't let me take any pictures. This plaque which quotes part of Reagan's second inaugural speech led into the exhibit.