Travel Journal

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="002285a1erlcgo.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>www.chapmansfriend.com</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="default.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.chapmansfriend.com"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="001d2c00dkelyh.gif"> <div> <A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="They Said, Calliforny Is The Place YOugh"><U>They Said, Calliforny Is The Place Y'Oughta Be</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id50.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pictures"><U>Pictures</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Travel Journal</B></div> <div> <B>August 9</B></div> <div> <B>Morro Bay</B></div> <div> <B>11:01 PST</B></div> <bR> <div> I'm cheating a little bit by starting this journal today. I've been out here for a few days as part of a family visit, but today was my first day on my own. I'm renting a car until next Monday, and trying to do what I did last summer on the East Coast-- driving around with only a general itinerary, trying to see what I can see.</div> <bR> <div> And it's only a coincidence that I have a chance to complete the last two stops on a certain historical quest of mine...</div> <bR> <div> Today I saw my mother off at the Oakland Airport and then took a circuitous BART route to pick up my car in Berkeley. I idly wondered, as I walked to the rental place, where Patty Hearst had been kidnapped, and whatever happened to Steven Weed. Heh.</div> <div> The main goal for today was to drive part of the Pacific Coast Highway south of San Francisco, through places like Big Sur. I wound up at Morro Bay, about halfway between San Francisco and LA. Not much going on here tonight-- I thought it might be a little busier than it is, given the location and the season...</div> <bR> <div> Tomorrow, what possible reason would make me go out of my way to visit Simi Valley and Yorba Linda? Hmmmm....</div> <bR> <div> <B>August 10:</B></div> <div> <B>Bakersfield</B></div> <div> <B>11:50 PM</B></div> <bR> <div> All the music I prepared for this trip, and I never thought of looking for <I>Streets of Bakersfield</I>. Heh...</div> <bR> <div> Leaving Morro Bay, I headed down the coast toward The Belly Of The Beast (either LA, or Republican presidential sites, whichever). There were some nice beaches along the way, but I was kind of spoiled after yesterday's scenery. Pretty jaded for a Midwestern boy, eh?</div> <bR> <div> Looking at the map, you tend to underestimate how long it takes to get from one spot to another across the city. So the hope was that I could get to both the Reagan and Nixon sites, without trying to do anything else in LA. Not that there are a lot of things in LA I would want to see anyway... I'm a Manhattanophile.</div> <bR> <div> Simi Valley is out on the northwest part of LA. Getting to the Reagan Library, I was thinking that this was my first visit to a grave of a president I voted against. Should that make a difference? No, but to be honest, I was dreading the idea of both paying admission to see the Reagan grave <I>and </I>enduring the very pro-Reagan library exhibits. As we will see below, I'm actually willing to both give Reagan credit for some things and to cut him slack just for not being Dubya, but... a little hagiography goes a long way. </div> <bR> <div> Consciously or not, I wore a dark <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Microsoft Sans Serif" ><I><B>Blue </B></I></FONT>shirt for my visits today.</div> <bR> <div> The library is located on the top of a hill, looking out over other hills/mountains covered with grasses and shrubs...</div> <div> <IMG SRC="3023bd30.jpg" border=0 width="315" height="211" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">      <IMG SRC="3043cd40.jpg" border=0 width="316" height="212" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> I was surprised and a little relieved to discover that there is a separate admission for the Reagan Library exhibits, but the actual gravesite is free. Now I could bypass the fee for the museum <I>and </I>save a little time which I knew I might need going across LA to get to the Nixon Library. Thanks, Ronnie!</div> <bR> <div> Was I being disrespectful by passing up the museum exhibits and only going to the gravesite? I thought about this, and I decided that if a conservative Republican followed my exact behavior at the Bill Clinton grave (after he has gone to that big Hooters in the sky), I'd be perfectly happy. I paid my respects, acknowledging his place in history, but didn't immerse myself in Reaganania. I think that's his due as a former president, politics aside. </div> <bR> <div> The burial spot itself overlooks one of the valleys surrounding the library... The second picture is the view directly facing the grave.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="30675fa0.jpg" border=0 width="373" height="250" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">    <IMG SRC="30841d70.jpg" border=0 width="321" height="215" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="30ab8270.jpg" border=0 width="440" height="295" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Ronald Reagan in a short paragraph...</div> <bR> <div> Was Reagan my favorite president? No. But, he did have some genuine accomplishments. I liked the way he was able to adapt to the new opportunites offered by Gorbachev and <I>glasnost </I>to pave the way for the end of the Cold War... And let's remember that his partnership with Gorbachev that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall was most suspiciously viewed by members of his own party. I doubt that I agreed with much of his domestic policy, but I'll agree that he pursued his policies with relatively little rancor toward his opponents. Being buddies with Tip O'Neill goes a long way toward making me see the "genial Reagan" that most people saw in the '80s. Also: He ate at the <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Microsoft Sans Serif" ><A HREF="http://www.hamburginn.com/index.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.hamburginn.com/index.html"><U>Hamburg Inn</U></A></FONT> once! So, not my favorite, but as we now know, he could have been worse.</div> <bR> <div> Leaving the Reagan Library, it was a quick (HA!) jaunt across the city to the Nixon Library. For the record, the route is the 118 to the 210 to the 57 to the 90! Only an hour and a half later, I was close to Yorba Linda...</div> <bR> <div> I had been to the Nixon Library once before in 1990 (hi, Paul!), but of course not since Nixon's death. The Nixon Library is the only Presidential Library not run by the National Archives, so it's always a bit suspect. I saw that earlier this year a symposium on Nixon at the Library was cancelled, and that the suspicion was that it was due to too many critical voices on the program. Actually, going through the museum (this one required a fee to see the grave, plus I think Nixon's exhibits are more intrinsically fascinating anyway), I can see that the tone of the exhibits is certainly slanted toward Nixon's viewpoint, but the facts aren't blatantly tapdanced upon except for the Watergate section. There, the famous "smoking gun" tape is parsed so closely in an attempt to "prove" that Nixon didn't really obstruct justice that it's sad it's not more effective. I mean, when Clinton said "I did not have sexual relations with that woman," I believed it for a minute! Even with the strongest possible attempt to debunk the tape, it still didn't work, even for a minute.</div> <bR> <div> I remembered the Hall of Statues from my first visit...</div> <div> <IMG SRC="30db8270.jpg" border=0 width="440" height="295" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> The Nixon birthplace is to the rear of the library, and next to it are the Nixon's graves. I actually missed them the first time past... they are located off to the side.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="30f82020.jpg" border=0 width="386" height="258" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  <IMG SRC="31040d60.jpg" border=0 width="320" height="214" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Any other presidents buried within sight of their birthplaces? Hoover and Nixon, but I can't think of any others offhand...</div> <bR> <div> Richard Nixon in a short paragraph...</div> <div> Hunter Thompson on Nixon, 1994: "My mother hates Nixon, my son hates Nixon, I hate Nixon, and this hatred has brought us together." And yet just before the 2004 election, in one of the last things he ever wrote, Hunter said he would not hesitate to choose Nixon over Bush. It's crazy, but Dubya almost gives me the warm fuzzies about Nixon. Like him or hate him, you have to respect Nixon. He had a clear vision for what he wanted to do, whether it was foreign or domestic. <I>Detente </I>is of course Nixon's best-known achievement, but the surprising thing is how many "progressive" acts were passed or proposed under Nixon. The EPA, OSHA, affirmative action, welfare reform that might have guaranteed a minimium national income... It's no joke that some historians are beginning to call Nixon the Last Liberal President. He was, like Teddy Roosevelt,  a believer in the idea that the most effective progressive reforms can be put through by a conservative. Did Nixon actually <I>care </I>about worker safety and clean water? Probably not very much, but he knew that making concessions on those issues enabled him to concentrate on being a foreign policy president, which he wanted anyway. So, leaving out the perjury, obstuction of justice, and being an unindicted co-conspirator, he's an... <I>interesting </I>president... But you can't forget about that, can you? </div> <bR> <div> Sitting at the Nixon grave, I thought about the ending of <I>Bull </I><I>Durham</I>. Crash Davis has just hit the dinger that made him the all-time leader in home runs in the minor leagues, and, as Annie Savoy says, nobody knew, not even the <I>Sporting News</I>. I had just completed my visit to each presidential grave (a process that must have started with the Lincoln Tomb in the mid-60's), but it wasn't exactly the type of thing that you could publicly announce to complete strangers. But, the quest is over...</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="31266f00.jpg" border=0 width="358" height="240" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  <IMG SRC="31340d60.jpg" border=0 width="320" height="214" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Vice-Presidents next? Major League Ballparks? State Capitols? </div> <bR> <div> <B>August 11:</B></div> <div> <B>Reno</B></div> <div> <B>11:54 PM</B></div> <bR> <div> OK, I'm in Reno, and I don't get it. Where are Penn & Teller performing? Where is the Liberace Museum? Where are the hookers, the cute ones like <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Microsoft Sans Serif" ><A HREF="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000223/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000223/"><U>Elisabeth Shue</U></A></FONT> in <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Microsoft Sans Serif" ><A HREF="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113627/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113627/"><U>that movie?</U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> You mean that stuff is only in Las Vegas? Huh...</div> <bR> <div> Yes, I'm in the Biggest Little Town in the World... No real reason, I've just never been here. The drive today was from Bakersfield up the central valley. Lots of farmland, so it wasn't all that different from home! Then up and over the mountains, past Lake Tahoe and over the state line to the Silver State. </div> <bR> <div> I don't think I'm the ideal customer for a gambling town like Reno... I spent about 2 hours downtown but only nibbled at the slots, losing a whole $5. I will acknowledge that I am too wussy about stepping up to the "live" roulette and blackjack tables, though. Heh!</div> <bR> <div> <B>August 12:</B></div> <div> <B>Boise</B></div> <div> <B>11: 48 PM</B></div> <bR> <div> It may seem like I'm going the wrong way, but I would always regret not taking the opportunity to visit Idaho for the first time. You're living in your own private Idaho, Idaho...</div> <bR> <div> This morning I backtracked slightly to go to Carson City, Nevada's capital, just in case I really do get serious about visiting all the state capitol buildings! Then... going across northern Nevada was interesting. It may be desolate-looking, but in its own way it's as unique as the Pacific coast. Then cutting across the southeastern corner of Oregon, which is exactly like Nevada topographically... not the green rainy Oregon you think of... until I got to Boise. It may seem foolish, but isn't that what roadtrips are for? </div> <bR> <div> Tomorrow, I turn back in the direction of the coast...</div> <bR> <div> <B>August 13:</B></div> <div> <B>Springfield, OR</B></div> <div> <B>11:41 PM</B></div> <bR> <div> Springfield is just outside of Eugene, home of the University of Oregon (uh, Go... Ducks, I think?). After looking at a few things in downtown Boise (the capitol building, and still more dead politician's graves... <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Microsoft Sans Serif" ><A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Edgar_Borah" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Edg"><U>William Borah</U></A></FONT> and <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Microsoft Sans Serif" ><A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Church" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Churc"><U>Frank Church</U></A></FONT>), today's drive was west across the state of Oregon. Mostly the kind of sparsely populated land I saw quite a lot of yesterday, but eventually the road led over the mountains. Great views along the scenic route. Tomorrow, the plan is to cut over to the Oregon coast, and spend the rest of my trip heading down the Coast Highway as much as possible. My only deadline is to be in Berkeley at 3 PM Monday to return the car...</div> <bR> <div> Oregon is one of those "no-self-serve gas" states... So retro!</div> <bR> <div> <B>August 14:</B></div> <div> <B>Eureka, CA</B></div> <div> <B>10:14 PM</B></div> <bR> <div> Last night of the trip... Awwww...</div> <bR> <div> Today, it was fairly simple. Cut over from Eugene to the coast, then drive south. The Oregon coast has the expected views of the ocean, but the unusual addition of huge sand dunes. I reached the edge of the dunes at one trail, and still had 2 miles to go before getting to the beach!</div> <bR> <div> Coos Bay was Steve Prefontaine's hometown, and growing up when I did, that means something to me... There's a memorial to him just off Highway 101...</div> <bR> <div> Then, later on, there are the redwood trees of California. Mainly just seen from the road, but impressive nonetheless. I'm just a little south of the main area of the redwoods (though I think there are some more to come) in Eureka, which I chose because I think it will be just about the right distance to drive so that I can get to Berkeley at the proper time. We'll see...</div> <bR> <div> The next update I make, I'll be at home... Again, Awww....</div> <bR> <div> <B>The Last Day...</B></div> <bR> <div> I am back home and have been delinquent in finishing off this journal. I think it's because it means recapping the day on which the trip ended...</div> <bR> <div> I had thought I'd passed through the major redwood tree areas of the coast. I was wrong, because a slight detour off of 101 south led through 25 or 30 miles of redwoods, with plenty of opportunities to pull off the road and gawk. I had enough time (I thought) for one more stretch of road along the coast, so I took Highway 1 over some extremely twisty roads back within sight of the ocean. After some last views of the coastline, getting back to 101 meant cutting east through still <I>more </I>roads with hairpin turns. Scenic, but they also slowed me down!</div> <bR> <div> By then, the objective was to get back to Berkeley as close as possible to 3 PM, and any semblance of "vacation" was gone... I always think about Steinbeck's quote that a roadtrip sometimes ends long before the finish is reached. </div> <bR> <div> As it happened, after going through several knots of early afternoon traffic and then taking the San Rafael bridge over the Bay, I only pulled into Berkeley 45 minutes late. From then? Retracing my route back to the BART station, to the pickup for the airport shuttle (at the Oakland Coliseum BART station, where there were some early arrivals for the A's game as I got there), then on to the Oakland airport. And the trip was over...</div> <bR> <div> I ended up covering 2700 miles (!) in my almost-a-week, through 4 states (including my maiden trip to Idaho), and of course 2 presidential graves... And to update an answer from last week, FDR was also, along with Hoover and Nixon, buried within sight of his birthplace.</div> <bR> <div> Some of the songs on my roadtrip soundtrack:</div> <div> <I>California</I>, Phantom Planet</div> <div> <I>Big Sur</I>, The Thrills</div> <div> <I>Adios</I>, Jimmy Webb</div> <div> <I>Country Gentleman</I>, John Mellencamp</div> <div> <I>I Love LA</I>, Randy Newman</div> <div> <I>Campaigner</I>, Neil Young</div> <div> <I>Streets of Bakersfield, </I>Dwight Yoakum and Buck Owens (yes, I "found" a copy online during my trip and burned it)</div> <div> <I>All The Way To Reno</I>, REM</div> <div> <I>Your Own Private Idaho</I>, The B-52s</div> <div> <I>Out In California</I>, Yipes!</div> <div> <I>California Stars</I>, Wilco</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>