What Makes a Leader Great?

Today was another warm day as we left the house for the Reagan Presidential Library. It was about a 20-minute drive to Simi Valley from Newbury Park. We wanted to get there close to when it opened since once the parking lot fills, you have to park down the hill and walk up it. We spent around four hours exploring the 24 galleries about the life and career of our 40th president as well as Air Force One, and Marine One. The library was built and is maintained by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation which was started by the president himself to continue his legacy and to promote the principles he believed in.

The Reagan Library is larger than the Nixon Library. and the comparison between the two is interesting. Nixon was a president who lost the respect of his country and left the office in disgrace. Reagan was a beloved president who reestablished hope and confidence for many American people. So it is expected that the slant of the Reagan Library would be in strong favor of the president. It is interesting though that everything that I read presented a picture of a country in economic crisis and near collapse while the communist party was overtaking the world. And then Reagan arrived on his white horse and singlehandedly saved the country from complete devastation. The boys and I were in agreement that we actually preferred the Nixon Library because it seemed to have a more balanced perspective.

I did enjoy walking through Air Force One, the flying Whitehouse and Marine One, the president's helicopter. I also learned some facts about the Secret Service that I never knew. For example, the Secret Service was created by Abraham Lincoln just before he was assassinated to rectify a serious problem with counterfeit currency that was harming the economy. It wasn't until after McKinley's assassination in 1901 that Congress asked the Secret Service to provide protection to the President. Finally, the Library has an exhibit about Genghis Khan which was very fascinating. I've always thought of him as a brutal conqueror, but Mongolia reveres him and both China and Japan have claimed him as one of their own national heroes. Perspective is everythig when it comes to evaluating a leader.

Quote from Genghis Khan

After our visit to the Library, we spent the afternoon helping my nephew Alex and his wife Cata move to a different apartment in their complex. Zach had to return to San Diego a day early, so I dropped him off at the train station a little before 7:00 p.m. and then returned to help a bit more with the move. We ate dinner at Mouthful Eatery, a Peruvian sandwich shop and then went back to the house for a late movie. The movie, The Hundred-Foot Journey was a sweet movie about a young man from India who became a great chef in France. I had thought it might be based on true story, but alas it was only from a novel.  Once it ended, and everyone headed to bed. Tomorrow David and I will leave for home. It's been a nice four days, and we have started a new tradition of visiting Presidential Libraries. Texas, here we come!

It's Hot!

We were up early and out the door to Universal Studios for early arrival. We got into the park a little after 8:00 a.m. and headed straight to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. There wasn't much of a line, so we rode the ride, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey twice. This is an awesome ride. We also rode the Flight of the Hippogriff, a mini-rollercoaster. We spent a good amount of time walking through the world and exploring shops. By 10:30, the temperature was really heating up, so we bid adieu to Hogsmeade and headed to the world of Minions and the Despicable Me ride.

The wait said it was 25 minutes, but we waited about an hour to finally get on the ride. It was cute, but not worth the 60-minute wait especially since most of the time was spent outside as the mercury continued to rise. Next stop was Springfield, USA and the Simpson ride. This ride had a 50-minute wait, but we were happy to be inside with some air conditioning. In fact, our wait was only about 20 minutes, so Universal Studios has some difficulty determining their times. The boys really enjoyed the Simpson ride and the world of Springfield since they are big fans of the Simpsons T.V. show.

We decided to walk to the Lower Lot and after four sets of escalators down the side of the mountain, we arrived at the Jurassic Park, the only water ride in the park. The wait was 70 minutes, but the thought of getting doused with water was so inviting that we joined the thousands of others in line. 90 minutes later, we were on the boat enjoying delightful sprays of water. The final waterfall drop resulted in being sprayed in the face with a horizontal deluge. It was wonderful though a bit forceful.

By then, it was 2:00 p.m. and 112 degrees outside. We decided we had seen enough of Universal Studios and walked over to the City Walk to the movie theater. We got there just in time for the 2:30 showing of Antman and the Wasp. The theater had recliner seats, and I admit that I fell asleep during part of the movie. It was so cool and comfortable, I couldn't resist. After the movie, we drove to Santa Monica to eat at a restaurant Zach had heard about called Saved by the Max. The decor is from the old T.V. show Saved by the Bell. When we arrived, we found out it was going to cost us $51.00 per person, so a change in plans occurred and we ate at Baja Fresh instead.

It was about an hour drive to Newbury Park where Marc and Jackie live and that was our final destination. We arrived around 8:00 p.m. and visited for a few hours with the family. I was too tired to write last night which is why this post is a day late. Marc (with Jackie's assistance)
made us delicious lemon ricotta zucchini pancakes for breakfast that were divine. Today is the Reagan Library and hanging out with our family. Life is good.

To read, David's perspective go here: www.favoritesonsspiels.blogspot.com

"I am not a quitter"

We started our latest road trip on the evening of the 4th of July. We left San Diego around 8:00 p.m. with a destination of Orange County. As we approached our hotel for the night, we got to see about 10 different fireworks displays as we drove along the freeways. We spent the night in Anaheim just a few miles from our first stop, the Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda.

We had a lazy morning since the library didn't open until 10:00 a.m., so after a yummy breakfast in the lobby, we headed over to the library. It was more interesting than I expected and gave me a more compassionate and perhaps a more balanced view of President Nixon. The library is located on the property that Nixon spent his early years growing up. The one-room house that his parents built in 1913 is still standing and it has been renovated. It is filled with the original furniture and items from so long ago. The house was a kit that was ordered and then assembled, but it was really cute. It was so interesting to see all of the items that were used by the family including the bed where Nixon's mother gave birth to him.

Of course, we all know a lot about the scandal of Watergate and the president's resignation. The museum gave a pretty good presentation of this part of Nixon's infamous legacy, but the part I found so much more interesting were the things I didn't know. For example, it was Nixon who started the Environmental Protection Agency, attempted to nominate the first female supreme court justice, signed Title IX prohibiting gender bias in colleges and universities, and was the first president to encourage tribal self-determination. I was impressed with his intelligence and his love for his wife The section of the museum about Pat Nixon was really inspirational and it was heartwrenching to see how devastated he was when she passed away. He lived less than 10 months after her death.

Over and over, President Nixon was the comeback kid. It is amazing how many times he failed, picked himself up and continued forward. Even after his resignation, his foreign policy advice was sought by a number of presidents.

We left the Nixon Library mid-day and drove to the California Science Center. This gigantic museum has three floors of exhibits and hands-on activities that we enjoyed. But we were there primarily to see the Space Shuttle Endeavor. The Endeavor was built after the Challenger tragedy as a replacement. We learned a lot about the
space shuttle including how the astronauts go to the bathroom. It was very interesting! We watched a short documentary on when the space shuttle was brought to the museum. I was spellbound. I couldn't believe that they moved this impressive spacecraft down the streets of Los Angeles. What an exciting event it must have been.

We left the museum and headed to our hotel in downtown Burbank. When David realized where we were staying, he strongly suggested we go find the Disney Animation Studios. The complex takes up nearly two blocks and is only about 2 miles from our hotel. It was fun to drive around it and see the many gates into the facility. We are now settled in for the night and The Seventies is playing on CNN while I write this blog. It seemed appropriate considering our journey through history today.

Tomorrow is a shift into pure entertainment as we head over to Universal Studios and Harry Potter World.

For a different perspective, read my son, David's blog at https://favoritesonsspiels.blogspot.com