"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