Ronald Reagan Library

I'm back!!!!

I'll bet you thought I had fallen off the face of the earth.

But I haven't.

Just been lazy. I haven't felt like posting in a long time. But I thought I better get back up on the proverbial horse and take a ride.

A week ago today was my hubby Mike's birthday. He's been wanting to visit the Reagan library in Simi Valley ever since it opened. He is the hugest Ronald Reagan fan. Every year I tell him I will take him. And every year I forget. I really don't forget, we usually just don't have the money.


Well, this year I didn't forget and I had the money. So we (Mike, Brandon & I) made the 2 hour trek to Simi Valley last Saturday, for his birthday. Even though it was really the day after his birthday. In my family, we milk birthdays for as long as we can. At least for a week. Jesse didn't want to go as he isn't into politics at all. Plus Ronald Regan was before he was born (his words).

We left home around 8:45am and got into Simi Valley around 10:30 or so. We first stopped by Aunt Joni's house to see if she might want to come with us. But did I tell her in advance that we were coming to Simi?

Why the answer would be NO. Why should I? Aunt Joni had just told me in January when I saw her in Palm Desert that she never goes anywhere. She is always home. To stop by anytime.

Why would I doubt her? But home she was not.

So we found a Jack in the Box to eat a little breakfast before heading to the Reagan Library.

We got to the library around 11am.

The library was BUSY!!! Lots of people visiting. I didn't expect it to be so crowded.

The guys had fun standing at the presidential podium. Got a chance to try out the teleprompters. That is why Mike isn't looking at the camera when I took this picture.

Before we knew it, we were at the Berlin wall. I can't imagine living on one side of this wall and having my friends and family living on the other side and not being able to see them. They have an actual piece of the Berlin wall outside. This one inside is just a replica.

I think Brandon's favorite part of the library was Air Force One Pavilion. That plane is huge. I could never get the entire plane in one shot. And we never did find out how they got that huge plane in the building. Maybe they built the building around the plane?

They let you go through Air Force One. But they don't allow any photos inside. That is why they take your photo just prior to entering the plane, so they can sell it to you when you get out (see first photo on this post to see who was suckered into buying one).

This photo was taken after we exited the rear of the airplane. They let you take photos everywhere except inside Air Force One, you just can't use your flash when taking photos.

Both boys loved Air Force One.

Brandon in front of the presidential seal. Brandon took one of Mike & I, but he has it on his cell phone. So I haven't seen it.


This was President Reagan's limo from when he was shot.

Brandon standing in front of a mural that depicts all the different Air Force One airplanes there has been over the years.

The library was setting up for a dinner/event they were having that night. It was going to be for medal of honor recipients.

We were told they have lots of events in the Air Force One pavilion. Even school proms.

They had a jet engine on display. Mike is trying to show me the parts that he used to make being an Aerospace machinist back in the olden days. He machined parts for jet engines.


Here is the Marine One presidential helicopter they had on display. They don't let you go inside. They also have one at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda that they do let you go inside. But they don't let you take photos inside that either.

Outside you can visit the grave of Ronald Reagan.

The Regan Library costs $15.00 a person, but we thought it was worth it. Parking is free. We did not pay the extra $7.00 for the guidecam. But now I wish we had. It's a cool device that looks like an Ipod with earphones. It tells you about stuff you are seeing, plus its a still and a video camera. It lets you take photos and/or video and sends them to your email. How cool is that?

They also had a special George Washington exhibit that we visited. I just didn't post any photos.

It took us about 4 hours to see everything. We really enjoyed our trip to the Reagan library. I highly recommend it.

After we were done, we drive back to Aunt Joni's house. Surely now she would be home. But NO. She was still gone. I called Mom to get her cell phone number. Tried calling Joni's cell phone but no answer.

Next I called my sister Andrea to get our cousin Emily's phone number. I had driven all the way to Simi Valley and wanted to see someone in our family. But Emily didn't answer her phone either. Drats!

Since it was now 4pm, we decided to get something to eat. We saw a taco shop down the street and decided to stop. It was pretty good food. And the prices were cheaper than the taco shop we normally go to in our town. But they were sooooooooooooooooooo slow.

By the time we were done eating, it was 4:45. I tried calling Aunt Joni one last time. And this time she answered! Halafreakingluyah. She said she was in Camarillo at a friends birthday party. She was just leaving and would take her 1/2 hour to get home. Would we wait?

I told her since I like her so much, she was worth waiting for. So we drove around Simi a bit to kill some time and then drove to Aunt Joni's house to wait.

She finally got home a half hour later and we went inside to visit. It was fun getting to visit with Aunt Joni. I think she loved having us there too since it gave her someone to talk politics with that had the same views as her. Mike and Brandon both love talking politics. We also got to see inside her cute little vintage trailer. Now I want one.

Sorry that I didn't get any photos while at Aunt Joni's. I was too busy talking to remember to take pics.

We left Aunt Joni's a little before 9pm and got home around 10:40pm. Got home a little faster than the ride to Simi. Luckily we didn't have much traffic coming or going.

Wish I could have seen the cousins, but I have no clue where anyone actually lives in Simi. Only Aunt Joni. Plus it was a Saturday and I'm sure all the cousin's kids were playing sports. So I'm sure no one was home on Saturday. Next time I guess I better tell everyone I'm coming in advance. Then maybe we could have a get together.

We really need to have a family reunion. Who's game? And where should we have it?

John & Sarah's Wedding Weekend-The Rest of the Story

It was 2 weeks ago today that John & Sarah got married. In case you missed it, I did post about the wedding & reception last week.

Since we were up in the San Jose area for the weekend, I will now give you the rest of the story.

Last time we spoke about the wedding weekend, it was Saturday morning & I had just returned from picking up Mike's inhaler from Kaiser pharmacy and getting him some Gateraide from 7/11.

Our original plans for Saturday was to visit the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. Mike had always wanted to go there & now was our chance. However, Mike was still not feeling good Saturday morning. But he didn't want to miss going. Plus he thought he might feel better if he got out of the hotel room & did something.

So we met up with Eric & Jeannette downstairs in the hotel lobby. We purchased our tickets from the front desk for $20.00 a ticket instead of the usual $28.00 a ticket if you purchase them at the Winchester Mystery House. They did tell us that we could upgrade them once we got to the house for $5.00 more to include the behind the scenes tour. So once we got to the house, that is exactly what we did.

Our tour of the house was to begin at 11:15am.

They don't let you take photos inside the house. Only outside.

While we waited the 15 or so minutes until our tour was to begin, Mike & I looked around this museum area inside the gift shop.

Mike showed me this old waffle griddle. I have one very similar that we just picked up from a local thrift store at home for about $4.00. Except for mine is Hotpoint (I think) and this is a Winchester.

Finally it was time to begin the tour. We were to meet out in the courtyard area. Then we went inside the house where the tour was to begin. The tour guide started telling us the story of Sarah Winchester and how the house came to be built. The house was built over 38 years, 24 hours a day. If you want to learn more about Sarah Winchester & this bizarre house, you can visit their website here.

During this time I'm looking over at Mike & I can see that he is not feeling good. Then he tells me that he thinks he might pass out. The tour guide has just told us that we will walk a mile throughout the house & climb numerous stairs. It is then I tell Mike, I don't think him going on the tour is such a good idea. All he keeps saying is, "I think I'm going to pass out". I tell him if he is feeling like passing out, he better bail now. Won't be a good thing to pass out half way through the tour.

So I did what any good wife would do, I told him to bail and to go outside and sit at a table & rest while I continued on the tour.

What? Isn't that would you would do? We were already forfeiting $20.00 for 1 ticket, I wasn't about to forfeit on another one. And no, the tour guide did not offer to refund our money or give back the ticket so that we could ask the ticket office for a refund. But he did let Mike out the door back into the courtyard.

The house was beautiful and bizarre. It was definitely worth seeing. I just wish they would have let us take photos inside. It seems some movie company is going to be making a movie & they have the copyrights to all photos inside the house.

Most of the rooms don't have furniture in them. And the ones that do, the furniture didn't belong to Sarah Winchester, but are from the same time period to give you a feel on how the house looked during the late 1800's/early 1900's.

There are I think 160 rooms in the house with 10,000 windows. A lot of the windows are Tiffany leaded glass. Yes, that Tiffany. Sarah loved the number 13 & it is apparent everywhere.

The inside house tour took about an hour and a half. Once we got back outside we found that Mike was feeling better and he was able to go on the behind the scenes tour. But he was so mad that he wasn't able to go on the house tour.

On the behind the scenes tour, they take you around the grounds, into some of the out buildings and down in the basement. Here is one of the bizarre things in the house. The door to nowhere.

We had to wear hard hats on the behind the scene tour. Mostly while we where down in the basement.

I love how they have trimmed this bush to be the number 13.

And all the parts of the house that are painted black, they are the parts of the house that were unfinished when Sarah died. They have been boarded up & painted black. It seems that when Sarah died, all the carpenters quit working, some quit right in the middle of hammering in a nail. And why? Would you continue working if you thought you weren't going to get paid?


Here is Mike, Jeannette & Eric inside one of the out buildings. I think this was a machine shop of some sort.

Jeannette & Eric resting inside the greenhouse.

I loved these spiderweb Tiffany windows. And so did Sarah Winchester. She loved spiderwebs as well as the number 13.

Eric & Jeannette outside the house.

The house wasn't always so Victorian looking. It used to have a 3 story tower & looked more like the Munster house. But during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake the 3 story tower fell. They never did rebuild the tower but they changed up the exterior to make it look like it is now.

I love the look of it now. I just don't think I would want to live in it. Too big. And I really don't like ghosts.

Mike & me.

Did I mention ghosts? That is the whole reason that Sarah was building the house. To appease the spirits or ghosts of the people the Winchester guns has killed over the years. She held seances every night in the house to ask the spirits what she should build next.

Did we see any ghosts? Well I did think I saw a flash of something leave the room to go back down a hall. I thought it was someone from our group. But I looked down the hall & didn't see anyone. So who knows???????

The whole front of the house got the most damage in the 1906 earthquake. In fact, Sarah shut off the entire front 30 rooms after the earthquake & never went back into them. When you tour these rooms inside, you can still see all the damage the earthquake caused. Only the outside was fixed up after the earthquake.

The grounds of the estate are fabulous to walk around. I would love to have a yard like this.


This is the water tower on the property. It used to have a huge water tank on top. But there was a fire years ago & the only thing that burnt was the tank full of water. Go figure.

Another out building with lots of tools. Carpenters needed lots of tools to be continuously building.

The house cost Sarah Winchester over $5,000,000 to build. After she died, the house & all the property was sold at auction for about $150,000. Someone got a screaming deal.

After the behind the scene tours we went into the rifle museum. You know boys, they love to see guns and rifles.

Mike was in heaven.

There were some pretty cool guns/rifles.

We were at the Winchester Mystery House for about a total of 3 hours. It is definitely worth going to see if you are ever in the San Jose area.

Afterwards we went to Mimi's for lunch. We needed some place where Mike could get some soup to eat. I had never been to Mimi's before. It was soooo yummy. I had turkey dinner to get me in the mood for Thanksgiving.

After lunch we went back to the hotel & our plans were to just hang up & relax at the hotel.

The Bunkers had all gone to Sarah's (as in John's Sarah, not Sarah Winchester) parents house for a BBQ. But since it decided to rain, I think they had pasta instead. We were invited to go but decided to go to the Winchester house instead.

In the early evening Eric called me to say that John had called him to invite us to meet them at some sushi place. Aunt Joni was going and some of Marti & Becky's kids. Mike wasn't feeling well enough to go so I did what any good wife would do. I left him at the hotel & went to party with my cousins & aunt.

We all met up at some place called Cherry. There was about 20 of us if you include some of John's friends who also came.


I've only had sushi once & I didn't really like it. But Aunt Joni & I decided to be brave & order some. This is what we got. It was called The Green Dragon. It had shrimp inside & was wrapped in avocado. It was pretty good. But I highly doubt I would go to another sushi place or order sushi again. Unless I was partying with my cousins.

Marti's son Ian had this sushi. The presentation of all the sushi was fabulous. But I didn't want to eat any (except for what Aunt Joni & I had ordered).

Aunt Joni talking to John. The people in the background are John's friends.

Here is Marti's daughter Katie, her husband Seth and their daughter Anna.

Marti's daughter Lauren, Kira, Kira's daughter Kylee and Becky's daughter Jessica on the right. Marti & Becky had already gone back home so that is why they weren't there on Saturday night. And Emily & Tyler's families went to San Francisco. Not sure if Rick's family went home or went to San Francisco.

Aunt Joni & I shared a 2 item combo plate as well. We had tempura veggies/shrimp and some chicken dish with noodles. Both were very tasty. I would order these items again.

From right to left we have Ian (Marti's son), Tina (Becky's daughter) and Sarah (John's new wife). The girl on the far left is one of John's friends, so I don't know her.

Jeannette holding Kira's new baby boy Tyson.

The happy couple, John & Sarah.

I was so glad that we had this little spur of the moment get together. It gave us a chance to get to know Sarah. John made a fabulous choice in a wife. We all loved her. They are so cute together.

Not only did we get to visit more with John & Sarah. We also got to visit more with Marti & Becky's kids. I loved spending time with all of them.

Got back to the hotel around 10pm. Found Mike eating left over Chinese food from Friday's lunch (hurray for mini fridge & microwave in hotel room). I asked how he ate it without a fork. He said he used the coffee stirrers as mini chopsticks. Whatever works. At least he was feeling better. So I didn't feel too bad when I left him again to go down to Aunt Joni's room.

I had so much fun talking with Aunt Joni, Tina & Jessica. Stayed in their room until midnight.

On Sunday morning we ate breakfast down in the dining area of the hotel. Cost was $12.95 a person which was a bit steep. But for $12.95 you could eat from the buffet, order off the breakfast menu, or both. I opted for both.

Ordered an omelet from the menu, then had a pancake, bacon and hashbrowns from the buffet. The food was good. Mike didn't eat breakfast as he wasn't feeling good. Besides Eric, Jeannette & I, Aunt Joni came down to eat breakfast with us and to do some more visiting. She then called Tina & Jessica to come down as well.

I just love visiting with family. I could have visited all day. But alas, we had to go home sometime.

We left the hotel about 10:30am for the 7 hour drive home.

But before we left, Jessica, Tina & Aunt Joni did a little dance for us.

John & Sarah's Wedding

It was a week ago today that Eric, Jeannette, Mike & I took a trip up to San Jose to attend John & Sarah's wedding.

Eric borrowed Dad's truck so that Mike & I would have more room sitting in the back seat. I love traveling in Dad's truck. Paying for gas, not so much. Luckily, we weren't paying for all the gas.

We left our house at 5:30am on Friday 10/22. We got to the Hilton Garden Inn in Cupertino (where we were staying at) around 12:30pm. And we even stopped about 4 or 5 times for potty breaks. You know when you get older you have to stop more often for potty breaks. Kind of like when you have young kids. Except for now, you are stopping because it is you. Getting old is a bitch.

Since it was too early to check in when we reached the hotel (at least that is what we assumed since check in wasn't suppose to be until 3pm), we decided we would get some lunch. The only restaurant options around the hotel were, Asian, Asian or more Asian. But we did have our choice of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, & Vietnamese. We chose Chinese.

The food was pretty awesome. But I could not master the chopsticks. Luckily they had forks. If I had to eat with chop sticks, I would be skinny. We ended up splitting 3 orders of food and we still had left overs which we took with us since the hotel was suppose to have a mini fridge & microwave.

We got back to the hotel around 1:30pm. We saw Tyler's family in the parking lot. They had just returned from visiting the Winchester Mystery House. They said it was definitely worth seeing.

Then we saw Emily's husband Jack in the parking lot taking their stuff into the hotel.

Once we got inside the hotel, they didn't have any more rooms ready. It seems that Emily, Jack & Aunt Joni got the only ones ready that early. The hotel said we would have to wait about 10 minutes. The hotel had been sold out the night before & check out isn't until noon, so they were still cleaning rooms. We ended up waiting in the lobby for about half hour to an hour.

Here is Eric & Jeannette reading the paper while we waited.

Mike went outside to see this robot contraption. There was a group of high school students from Boise, Idaho who were in town for some robot competition. This was their entry. Mike had a fun time watching the robot. It could kick a ball. Wooped de freakin' do. But then, I've never had to make a robot that can kick a ball. So it might be freakin' awesome.

Aunt Joni came down to the lobby to visit with us while we waited as well.

Finally after what seemed an eternity, our rooms were ready. Except, no clean towels. We would have to wait awhile longer for towels.

Our rooms were pretty good. Too bad I didn't take any photos. You'd think since I blog all the time, I would be taking photos of everything. But no, I tend to forget. But the room did have a mini fridge & microwave. Woo hoo! And a big flat screen TV. Too bad the TV reception wasn't too good. But the Internet was free.

We rested a little bit and then got ready for the wedding. We were all to meet downstairs in the lobby about 4:00pm. The wedding started at 5:30pm, but the golf course it was located at in San Jose was at least a 1/2 hour away, without traffic. We were going to be hitting San Jose traffic at it's peak. So we left an hour and 1/2 early, just in case. Good thing we did, I think we only got there about a 1/2 hour early.

Becky & Rick S drove straight there. They had the grooms cake & didn't have time to stop at the hotel first to change. They changed at the club house. But at least they made it in time. Marti, was another story. She got stuck in traffic & missed the actual wedding ceremony.

Here are a few shots prior to the wedding.

Rick, Ryan B & Ryan K. Rick & Ryan B(middle) are John's brothers. Rick is my cousin, Ryan B is not. The Ryan K on the right is Emily's son. Emily is John's sister & my cousin. And if you can't figure out how Rick & Ryan B can be John's brothers and only one of them my cousin. They are brothers from another mother. Both have same father, just different mothers. And since I am only related to one of their mothers, only one of them is my cousin. Family trees can get messy sometimes.

Hopefully I get these right. The girl in the back on the left is Sarah. She is Emily & Jack's daughter. The girl in the front on the left is Brooke, the girl on the right is Riley. They are Rick B & Traci's daughters.

Mike, Kim (me), Eric & Jeannette.

Tina & Jessica. They are Becky & Rick S's daughters. Fun girls. I had so much fun getting to know them better.

Here we are sitting in the chairs waiting for the wedding ceremony to start. I tried numerous times to take our photo holding the camera out in front of me with no luck. Finally some lady sitting in front of us offered to take our photo.

Sarah & John exchanging their wedding vows. The wedding was originally suppose to be outside, but it was rainy that day so they moved it inside. I was sitting in the back so didn't get the best photo. And I didn't want to use my flash.

Right after the ceremony they had us all go outside to a deck area for cheese, crackers, veggies, dips and hot finger foods. Sorry, no photos of the food. I was busy eating & visiting with cousins.

The photographer took family photos before the sun went down. I missed getting my own photo of John, Sarah and the siblings (my cousins). I got the tail end of this shot with John, Sarah, Marti, Emily, Rick B & Becky was already walking away. Don't have a clue where Tyler was.

Here is John, Sarah & all of John's nieces & nephews. Well not all, but all the ones that attended. Three of Marti's kids (now all grown up) were not there. And Becky's son was not there.

Aunt Joni is always smiling & looking like she is having fun. You can even see Uncle Ivan in this photo. I haven't seen him in probably 30 years or more. He didn't recognize Eric or me.

John and his beautiful bride Sarah. They are so cute together. Someone needs to seriously photo shop those power poles out of the photo.

Becky, John, Sarah & Marti.

Becky & her daughters Tina and Jessica made the groom's cake. Sarah & John met while playing ice hockey. And I'm guessing that they currently have 2 kitties. The cake turned out really cute.

And here was their wedding cake. I didn't get a very good photo of it. I love how it is all a skewed. Sarah & John's wedding colors were navy blue & orange.

Aunt Joni holding her great grandson Tyson. This is Kira's new baby born 3 weeks prior to this photo. Kira is Marti's daughter. And Marti is Joni's daughter. And no, I did not get a photo of Kira at the wedding. I missed taking photos of most of the family.

Tyler & his son Reed. Reed is such a cutie patootie. Everyone just loved him. He had the best smile.

Mother/son dance.

Eric & Jeannette visiting with Tyler & Becky. That was the best part of the evening, getting to visit with everyone. Too bad the music had to get in the way.

Sarah & John.

I loved Sarah & John's first dance. I took a video of the first part, which was pretty boring. But about 1/2 way through they did some dips & twirls. It was quite cute. Wish I had video taped that part, but I didn't. Since the part I taped was pretty boring, I'm not posting it. I may put it on facebook later. Right now, I'm too lazy.

The DJ they had was pretty good and the music for dancing was great. Everyone had a blast. I love dancing at family weddings. Much more fun that dancing at some acquaintances wedding.

All in all, it was a fabulous wedding & reception. I had a great time. The food was scrum-deli-icious. I had the chicken, Eric, Jeannette & Mike all had the fillet Mignon. I should have taken photos, but I was too busy scarfing it down.

For favors Sarah and her mother and grandmother made Italian wedding cookies. Every place setting had a little box full of yummy cookies to take home. Sarah said it is a family tradition. I like that tradition. I brought home the cookies that were meant for Andrea & Jamey (they ended up not getting to go). But somehow, the cookies never made it home. Don't know what happened to them. Is my nose growing longer?

The bad part of the evening was when Mike started not feeling good. We left about 10pm & went back to the hotel. A little after midnight Mike tells me that he is having a hard time breathing & needs to go to the hospital.

Problem is, Eric has the keys to the truck & was asleep. I had to wake him up to get the keys. Lucky for us, the Kaiser hospital was only a mile or two from the hotel. We got to the emergency room and told the nurse that Mike left his inhaler at home & needed a new one. Our options were A: to check into emergency (pay $100), see the doctor & get a new prescription (pay another $10), or B: go straight to the pharmacy to see if they could pull up a prescription & refill it. We chose option B.

Went down to the pharmacy only to find out that northern California Kaiser system has no access to southern California system. Can you believe it? For as much as Kaiser touts how tech savvy they have become, one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing.

So now we had 2 different options. A: go back to emergency room & check in, pay $100, see doctor, get a new prescription, pay $10. Or B: call the 24 hour nurse advice line to see if they could do anything for us. Free. We chose option B. Had to wait on hold for almost 40 minutes before we spoke to the on call nurse. She first had to give us a northern California Kaiser member number to open up a chart. She then spoke to Mike & determined she would call the on call Doctor to call in a prescription for a new inhaler. Cha Ching!!! Just saved $100.

The only problem was, that would take 2-4 hours. By this time it was 3am. I had been up 1 hour short of 24 hours. I was dang tired. The pharmacist said to go back to our hotel & she would call when prescription was in.

She called about 2 hours later. By that time, we were finally asleep. Told her I would pick up in the morning.

Got up at 7:30 am, went back to Kaiser, picked up prescription, picked up some Gateraide from 7/11. All was well in our kingdom once again.

At least that was what I thought.

To be continued..................