September 6, 2011
September 6, 2011
We are on the west side of Los Angeles and need to go east to return to Tucson. Amazingly it is a two-hour drive just to cross the LA metro area. And that is going the speed limit! With LA’s notorious traffic it could be an all day journey, not to mention that the RV is a scary ride in heavy traffic. So Aimee shouldn’t have been surprised when I woke her at 4:30AM and told her we were leaving. She didn’t think I could wake up that early.
On the road before 5am I was shocked to find the highways weren’t empty. With all the cars I see during the day, I often think nobody works anymore. It is nice to know that some people actually get up early and still go to work.
We made it to Yorba Linda, CA on the east side around 7am. We took showers and caught up on emails till 10am when the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum opened. It is a beautiful place, well manicured and richly decorated. I guess I had the impression a disgraced presidency wouldn’t have attracted this much money. The library was built on the site of Nixon’s birthplace and family orchard. The original house is still on the grounds.
The museum was outstanding, part autobiography but mainly an in depth history book on the 50’s and 60’s. It really is too much to see in one day. I could easily come back. I am glad we saw Reagan’s Library recently. These two make a marked contrast. Even though both were Republicans from California, their presidencies were exact opposites. Reagan’s persona and message was uplifting, he had a successful presidency, he revitalized the country, and in his campaign terms, “it was a new day”. Nixon on the other hand, was our worst day.
The section on Watergate is surprisingly candid. It was recently redone by the National Archives, who took over the library a few years ago. It is obvious Nixon was a paranoid guy who saw conspiracy everywhere. In some ways he was justified, since it is likely his 1960 presidency was stolen by Chicago (Daley) voting fraud. But I am a big believer in character. We don’t vote directly on issues. We have a representative government. We depend on that elector to use his best judgment in making decisions. If we elect a lying crook looking out for his own benefit, we the people lose. Unfortunately as a country, we continue to reelect crooks election after election and then wonder why we have problems.
In the early afternoon, we left Yorba Linda heading east back to Tucson. It doesn’t take long to hit desert. In Palm Springs we saw what has to be the worlds largest wind farm. Thousands line both sides of the highway. In our travels we have seen wind farms popping up everywhere. What I am always in consternation about is the high percentage of non-spinners. Maintenance is a big issue. They are put up for the tax benefit but since they are uneconomical on their own, they are not worth fixing when they break. That is the dirty secret of subsidized programs. I estimate half of Palm Springs’ windmills sit idle.
We spent the night in Quartzite, AZ home of a massive RV show. Not now, but in January. Currently it is hot hot hot!
We are on the west side of Los Angeles and need to go east to return to Tucson. Amazingly it is a two-hour drive just to cross the LA metro area. And that is going the speed limit! With LA’s notorious traffic it could be an all day journey, not to mention that the RV is a scary ride in heavy traffic. So Aimee shouldn’t have been surprised when I woke her at 4:30AM and told her we were leaving. She didn’t think I could wake up that early.
On the road before 5am I was shocked to find the highways weren’t empty. With all the cars I see during the day, I often think nobody works anymore. It is nice to know that some people actually get up early and still go to work.
We made it to Yorba Linda, CA on the east side around 7am. We took showers and caught up on emails till 10am when the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum opened. It is a beautiful place, well manicured and richly decorated. I guess I had the impression a disgraced presidency wouldn’t have attracted this much money. The library was built on the site of Nixon’s birthplace and family orchard. The original house is still on the grounds. The museum was outstanding, part autobiography but mainly an in depth history book on the 50’s and 60’s. It really is too much to see in one day. I could easily come back. I am glad we saw Reagan’s Library recently. These two make a marked contrast. Even though both were Republicans from California, their presidencies were exact opposites. Reagan’s persona and message was uplifting, he had a successful presidency, he revitalized the country, and in his campaign terms, “it was a new day”. Nixon on the other hand, was our worst day.
The section on Watergate is surprisingly candid. It was recently redone by the National Archives, who took over the library a few years ago. It is obvious Nixon was a paranoid guy who saw conspiracy everywhere. In some ways he was justified, since it is likely his 1960 presidency was stolen by Chicago (Daley) voting fraud. But I am a big believer in character. We don’t vote directly on issues. We have a representative government. We depend on that elector to use his best judgment in making decisions. If we elect a lying crook looking out for his own benefit, we the people lose. Unfortunately as a country, we continue to reelect crooks election after election and then wonder why we have problems.
In the early afternoon, we left Yorba Linda heading east back to Tucson. It doesn’t take long to hit desert. In Palm Springs we saw what has to be the worlds largest wind farm. Thousands line both sides of the highway. In our travels we have seen wind farms popping up everywhere. What I am always in consternation about is the high percentage of non-spinners. Maintenance is a big issue. They are put up for the tax benefit but since they are uneconomical on their own, they are not worth fixing when they break. That is the dirty secret of subsidized programs. I estimate half of Palm Springs’ windmills sit idle.We spent the night in Quartzite, AZ home of a massive RV show. Not now, but in January. Currently it is hot hot hot!
posted by Mike and Aimee at 5:42 PM
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