Home Blog Page 4

A lesson in mapping in Wyoming

By
Judy
-
0

Sheridan, WY – It’s the unexpected little mistakes that can set someone back 17 miles when you thought you were paying attention.

It is now 12 hours after my road to Clearmont, WY turned to gravel and I can barely move.

The day began perfectly, good weather, early start, only one snake… and after 17 miles on a desolate country road a sign pops up that reads “pavement ending.”

I laughed because I thought the sign company was kidding. A couple more miles down a gravel road a friendly mom of 3 in a huge pickup says, “Oh no, there’s about 50 more miles of this. You’re taking the back way… with some big hills ahead.”

The “pavement ending” sign just got real.

Her name was Betsy. She was on her way to Sheridan for a doctor’s appointment. Small, but strong, she helped me heft my ride into her rig to haul me back into town so I could start over.

Now, 11:30 a.m. and back at ground zero… I set off again. After a brutal 5 hours I’m in Clearmont, WY and going no further.

I can barely move. While sunny, there was a headwind and some famous Wyoming hills. At times I wished for an engine.

The best part of the day came packaged as a tiny woman with a big cowboy hat. Fran was eager to have a visitor at the Clearmont Historical Center.

“Can you please sign our guest book,” she asked. By the looks of it they averaged a person a day for the 3 days a week they were open.

Fran was sweet. 87 years old and lived in seven states, including Alaska.

“We should have stayed there,” she said.

An avid hunter and rancher Fran easily relayed stories about her family, travel, and hunting.

“We got out of the car because a herd of caribou was passing by. I had a permit and so did my husband, so I got my gun and took out a nice bull and then passed him the gun and he got one too. We were there until dark cutting them up.”

Fran was delicate at 5 foot 5 but she struck me as the person who could eat nails, walk away the victor in a WWF arm wrestling contest and then serve you up a hot slice of homemade apple pie and tuck you in at night.

Fran took me to the back of the Clearmont Historical Center to show me some intricate leather artworks and carvings. “We also have a lot of quilters in town,” she said pointing to a board with an array of colorful handmade pieces.

When she started talking about the importance of the beet harvest I felt like I was the perfect person to be her guest and focus of attention that day.

Fran was sharp and in wonderful shape. She clomped across the wood floor in black cowboy boots relaying local history.

“Our cemetery in town is named Sunnybrook. That’s also the name of a whiskey. Matter of fact the first guy buried there was drunk on Sunnybrook whisky. He got loud and sassed some people and one of them shot him dead. So the cemetery is named Sunnybrook.”

Fran was nonchalant in her story telling.

“We have an old jail out back,” she said. “One time a couple school girls climbed the water tower and the sheriff put them in jail for a couple hours to teach them a lesson.”

Fran asked if we could step outside so she could take a photo with my bike. She was so adorable with her silver belt buckle and cowboy print shirt and blue jeans

“You know,” she giggled. “I never once learned to ride a bike. Give me a horse any day.”

Today I was ready to opt for a horse as well… and one with a sense of direction.

On a side note:

-Fran hooked me up with Shirley at Community Church. A large church for a small town but they were smart to put a couch in the youth room and it was a comfortable place to stay in a community that tops out at 116.

-I poured myself onto the couch and was instantly overcome by a an all-out exhaustion nap. Very slow progress since leaving Cody on Wednesday.

-Distance O-meter Cody to Shell 68 mi, Shell to Sheridan 56, Sheridan to Clearmont 48 and onto Gillett with winds predicted at 30 mph. I’m praying for a tailwind.

-It’s been good biking weather; sunny and in the 80s during the day. It’s around 50 in the early mornings so throughout the day I shed my layers.

-It’s very dry. Not dusty – tumbleweed dry, but chapped-lips dry where your teeth kinda hurt and your tongue doesn’t help because it’s like sandpaper no matter how many water breaks I take.

-Having fun. It’s a good test of my mettle at 59 and a half years old. I’m not gonna lie .. I can feel my 2-year-old hip barking at me sometimes. I use it as an indicator to stop for a water break and stretch more.

“Have I not commanded you? …  Be strong and courageous. … Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9

______

The 2023 Amazing Ride for Alzheimer’s is raises money every year for music programming for seniors at Cedar Community, a 501c3, so all donations are tax-deductible.

Donate via the secure website through Cedar Community.  Donations should be marked “Amazing Ride 2023.” Click HERE to make a secure online donation.

Checks may be made payable to “Cedar Community Foundation” with “Judy Bike Ride” in the memo line and mailed to 113 Cedar Ridge Dr., West Bend, WI 53095

Be sure to include the Federal Tax ID Number for the Foundation: 39-1249432

You may also find a downloadable donation form HERE.

VIDEO | Wild time at the Cody Rodeo

By
Judy
-
0

Cody, WY – There’s definitely a high energy level at the Cody Rodeo. The 2-hour show is a nightly event in Cody, WY that runs from June through the end of September.

 

Locals buy season passes for $75 and tourists can pick up a ticket at the gate for $25. It’s well worth it from the patriotic start when a cowgirl on a white horse circles the track, to the singing of the National Anthem, followed by a prayer from the emcee and asking everyone to say, “God bless America.”

Kids love the non-stop excitement and adults can feel it in their hips and joints as the broncs buck and the steers swing in wild disarray.

The roping of calves puts pure cowboy talent on display as during a full gallop and a twist of a lariat, the cowboy’s noose hits the mark and in a split second he’s off the horse, upends the calf, and ties off the hooves hoping for record time.

The Cody Rodeo is a can’t-miss event.

 

 

“Have I not commanded you? …  Be strong and courageous. … Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9

______

The 2023 Amazing Ride for Alzheimer’s is raises money every year for music programming for seniors at Cedar Community, a 501c3, so all donations are tax-deductible.

Donate via the secure website through Cedar Community.  Donations should be marked “Amazing Ride 2023.” Click HERE to make a secure online donation.

Checks may be made payable to “Cedar Community Foundation” with “Judy Bike Ride” in the memo line and mailed to 113 Cedar Ridge Dr., West Bend, WI 53095

Be sure to include the Federal Tax ID Number for the Foundation: 39-1249432

You may also find a downloadable donation form HERE.

Roadside art a hoot in Wyoming

By
Judy
-
0

Shell, WY – One of the many benefits of bicycle touring is being able to stop and appreciate the wayside history information and roadside art.

These are normally clever pieces that, in a car, you drive by so quickly… but on a bike, they bring more flavor to the experience.

Pedaling from Greybull, WY to Shell, WY. So simple, yet adorable

All side by side in Greybull, WY. They were all along the east side of the railroad track.

Just east of Cody, WY
A weathered image of an Indian head just outside Shell, WY
Vintage motel sign in Greybull, WY.
Reminds me of Route 66.
A mural in Cody, WY depicting Native American history

Kindness of Strangers

Meet my new best friend, Irbi.

“What’s Irbi short for,” I asked.

“Nuthin,” she said. “It’s my name.”

Irbi has lived for 30 years in a grand house in the small, small town of Shell, WY, at the base of the Big Horn Mountains.

Irbi lived around the corner from the Shell Community Church. She didn’t have a key but she did have a church directory.

“The church gave me this. I’m a member but I never go… because I’m lazy,” said Irbi.

She was direct and dry. I loved her immediately.

Irbi worked the phones and then we went to explore my “nest” for the evening.

Polly, her small white dog, tagged along.

“Now, Polly, you get over here,” said Irbi.

“She can hear me, she just doesn’t listen,” said Irbi.

Dressed in blue pants and a simple white t-shirt that had ‘Alaska’ decoratively written on the front, Irbi relayed some of her own history and some of Shell’s.

She was an acrobat in her day. “Needed to have both my shoulders replaced,” is how she described her career… which extended into college.

Irbi got a degree in physical education. She came to Shell when she got married. Her husband died at 77, several years ago.

Now it’s Irbi and Polly holding down the fort in Shell.

“Have I not commanded you? …  Be strong and courageous. … Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9
______

The 2023 Amazing Ride for Alzheimer’s is raises money every year for music programming for seniors at Cedar Community, a 501c3, so all donations are tax-deductible.
Donate via the secure website through Cedar Community.  Donations should be marked “Amazing Ride 2023.” Click HERE to make a secure online donation.
Checks may be made payable to “Cedar Community Foundation” with “Judy Bike Ride” in the memo line and mailed to 113 Cedar Ridge Dr., West Bend, WI 53095
Be sure to include the Federal Tax ID Number for the Foundation: 39-1249432
You may also find a downloadable donation form HERE.

Post Office art in Greybull, WY

By
Judy
-
0

August 25, 2023 – Greybull, WY – The small town of Greybull, WY has some interesting US Post Office artwork that dates to 1940.

Mural painted by Manuel A. Bromberg, is titled Chuckwagon Serenade. It is an oil on canvas painting that sits over the top of the postmaster’s door.

The artwork is unique because following the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the New Deal, which was designed to stimulate the economy by using federal money to create jobs for unemployed artists.

The colors in the painting are similar to those used in a piece at the US Post office in West Bend, WI titled Rural Mail Carrier by Peter Rotier which has been on display since 1937.

Click HERE to read that article.

Bromberg was from Ottumwa. Iowa and he was commissioned for the piece as a result of the 48th state mural competition of the section of fine arts.


“Whenever men gather in groups after the work of the day is over, songs follows naturally. Here is a group of cowboys sprawl beside, their chuck or food wagon and sing plaintive ballads of the Western plains.”

“The artist states that in this painting he seeks to depict a specific group carrying on a universal action in a manner indigenous to their surroundings.”

The documentation about the painting does not post a date; there is some writing in the lower right corner of the painting that shows the artist’s name and the number 40.

Click HERE to read about other US Post Office artwork.

The painting is inside the Greybull, WY Post Office which, according to the cornerstone, was built in 1937.

______

“Have I not commanded you? …  Be strong and courageous. … Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9

______

The 2023 Amazing Ride for Alzheimer’s is raises money every year for music programming for seniors at Cedar Community, a 501c3, so all donations are tax-deductible.

Donate via the secure website through Cedar Community.  Donations should be marked “Amazing Ride 2023.” Click HERE to make a secure online donation.

Checks may be made payable to “Cedar Community Foundation” with “Judy Bike Ride” in the memo line and mailed to 113 Cedar Ridge Dr., West Bend, WI 53095

Be sure to include the Federal Tax ID Number for the Foundation: 39-1249432

You may also find a downloadable donation form HERE.

Cedar Community is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, and donations are tax-deductible.

Small town Cody, WY has big appeal

By
Judy
-
0

August 23, 2023 – Cody, WY – Summing up the attractions in Cody, WY in one day would include a multitude of buffalo skin coats, a plethora of bison skulls, and the fact Wild Bill Cody was an impressive entrepreneur for the ages.

Cody was a master entertainer, builder of hotels, band organizer, city builder, carnival barker, clever negotiator, and remarkable visionary… to say the least.

Cody’s Irma Hotel is one of the regal centerpieces of the small community of 10,000.

When Cody built the hotel, he said to his wife Julia Cody Goodman, in March 1902, “I’m going to build a beautiful little hotel in Cody. I’m going to have the finest furniture. I’m going to run it on the European plan right up to date and regular tourist-hotel prices will be so high that the toughs and bums can’t hang around.”

The Irma Hotel, built for about $80,000, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designed by Alfred Willdermanwoods a Lincoln, Nebraska church architect.

Certain exterior walls are made of river rock and locally quarried sandstone from Beck Lake just south of town.

The fireplace is an established assemblage of rock orders, minerals, and fossils from the Big Horn Basin.

The Irma’s famous cherrywood bar dated for the period of construction is one of the most photographed features in all of Cody.

The original part of the hotel was built for Buffalo Bill in 1902.


Noteworthy nuggets in Cody, WY

-Probably the most unique sign in Cody is for Cassie’s Bar Lounge. It feels very Route 66 with its vintage shape, saucy imagery, and random parrot.

-Secured my traditional state license plate from Rachelle at Mc Cue Auto Specialists.

– The Cody Rodeo is country western magic from the woman carrying an American flag on a white horse during the National Anthem, to the cowboys trying to eke out an 8-second ride, to the fiery bulls looking as fierce as they do on TV. The Cody Rodeo made it happen.

“Have I not commanded you? …  Be strong and courageous. … Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9

______

The 2023 Amazing Ride for Alzheimer’s is raises money every year for music programming for seniors at Cedar Community, a 501c3, so all donations are tax-deductible.

Donate via the secure website through Cedar Community.  Donations should be marked “Amazing Ride 2023.” Click HERE to make a secure online donation.

Checks may be made payable to “Cedar Community Foundation” with “Judy Bike Ride” in the memo line and mailed to 113 Cedar Ridge Dr., West Bend, WI 53095

Be sure to include the Federal Tax ID Number for the Foundation: 39-1249432

You may also find a downloadable donation form HERE.

Cedar Community is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, and donations are tax-deductible.

VIDEO | National Anthem at the Cody Rodeo

By
Judy
-
0

Cody, WY – A stunning rendition of the National Anthem by Preston Grey to start the Cody Rodeo in Cody, WY.

 

During the singing of the National Anthem, a gal on a white horse circled the rodeo ring while carrying an American flag. The weather at the time included some strong winds up to 10 miles an hour.

The Cody Rodeo is held every night from June 1 – August 31 and is a huge tourist attraction for the small cowboy town.

 

“Have I not commanded you? …  Be strong and courageous. … Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9

______

The 2023 Amazing Ride for Alzheimer’s is raises money every year for music programming for seniors at Cedar Community, a 501c3, so all donations are tax-deductible.

Donate via the secure website through Cedar Community.  Donations should be marked “Amazing Ride 2023.” Click HERE to make a secure online donation.

Checks may be made payable to “Cedar Community Foundation” with “Judy Bike Ride” in the memo line and mailed to 113 Cedar Ridge Dr., West Bend, WI 53095

Be sure to include the Federal Tax ID Number for the Foundation: 39-1249432

You may also find a downloadable donation form HERE.

Cedar Community is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, and donations are tax-deductible.

VIDEO | Eating on the range – A Chuckwagon experience

By
Judy
-
0

August 23, 2023 – Cody, WI – There’s nothing like pushing cattle for miles and then hearing the ring of the triangle to come and get a belly full of beans, biscuits and coffee. Ray Nardini, a lifelong foodie and camp cook, served up a traditional cowboy meal out front of the Buffalo Bill Wild West Museum in Cody, WY.

Some of Chuckwagon highlights:

– Nardini said cowboys ate until they were satisfied.

-The job as camp cook started at 2 a.m. and ended at 8 p.m.

-The secret of the coffee was to bring it to a rolling boil, add coffee, boil again and then pour on cold water to sink the grounds.

-Sourdough biscuits because a chuckwagon couldn’t transport dairy for buttermilk biscuits.

-The camp cook was the second highest paid on the wagon train right behind the trail boss.

-There was bacon in the beans.

-Pies were also made on the range in a cast iron pot using dried fruit.

-The cook’s helper was always called “Little Mary.” Even if he was 6’8 and 350 pounds.

-Logged 18 miles on Tuesday pedaling Cody, WY. Museums, thrift stores, Irma Hotel, churches, Post Office, and The famous Cody Rodeo.

-Headed east to Graybull, WY about 51 miles on Hwy 14/16. Paved.

Had a great tailwind and clocked 17 mph. Landed just after noon. Resupplied and doing the first stage of the climb over the mountains today with 16 mi to Shell, WY.

______

“Have I not commanded you? …  Be strong and courageous. … Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9

______

The 2023 Amazing Ride for Alzheimer’s raises money every year for music programming for seniors at Cedar Community, a 501c3, so all donations are tax-deductible.

Donate via the secure website through Cedar Community.  Donations should be marked “Amazing Ride 2023.” Click HERE to make a secure online donation.

Checks may be made payable to “Cedar Community Foundation” with “Judy Bike Ride” in the memo line and mailed to 113 Cedar Ridge Dr., West Bend, WI 53095

Be sure to include the Federal Tax ID Number for the Foundation: 39-1249432

You may also find a downloadable donation form HERE.

Cedar Community is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, and donations are tax-deductible.

Amazing Ride for Alzheimer’s | Cowboy adventure underway in Cody, WY

By
Judy
-
0

August 22, 2023 – Cody, WY – The Spin and Marty segments in Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club should have been pushed to the top of the show in my opinion. I remember racing home from grade school to get my cowboy fix and loving every adventure as the boys swung up on horseback and explored “The Hermit on Thunder Lake” or …other such epic goings on around the Triple R Ranch.

Shooting my first toy gun, in the house, with my eyes closed while wearing my threatening patterned pants, saddle shoes, and intimidating barrette.

My dad fed my 5-year-old cowboy fascination by arming me with toy pistols and rolls of red caps.

In tribute, I’m starting the Amazing Ride for Alzheimer’s this year in Cody, WY, and setting out on a dusty trail full of wild rodeos, bow-legged cowpokes, jingling spurs, and Wild Bill history.

 

Saddle up and come along as I pedal Cody, WY to Wisconsin all while raising awareness for music and exercise programs at Cedar Community in West Bend.

A couple of nuggets:

There’s plenty of local flavor when looking for a place to bed down for the night, including The Bear Tooth Hotel or the famous WigWam Motel.

I opted for the KOA campground which was about 3 minutes from the Cody Yellowstone Airport.

The KOA came in handy as storms with strong lightning chased me across the range.

Can’t wait for some Wild Bill Cody history.

______

“Have I not commanded you? …  Be strong and courageous. … Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9

______

The 2023 Amazing Ride for Alzheimer’s is raises money every year for music programming for seniors at Cedar Community, a 501c3, so all donations are tax-deductible.

Donate via the secure website through Cedar Community.  Donations should be marked “Amazing Ride 2023.” Click HERE to make a secure online donation.

Checks may be made payable to “Cedar Community Foundation” with “Judy Bike Ride” in the memo line and mailed to 113 Cedar Ridge Dr., West Bend, WI 53095

Be sure to include the Federal Tax ID Number for the Foundation: 39-1249432

You may also find a downloadable donation form HERE.

Cedar Community is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, and donations are tax-deductible.

Amazing Ride for Alzheimer’s – Exploring Sault Ste. Marie, MI

By
Judy
-
0

 

July 9, 2018 – Sault Ste. Marie, MI – The Chippewa County Historical Society has well documented Sault Ste. Marie.

Photos and and a timetable are laid it out in storyboard fashion along Historic Water Street overlooking the gateway to Lake Superior.

Commerce surrounding the shipping canal is a huge part of the start of the community and construction of the locks in 1853 put 1,600 men to work; the population of the Sault was temporarily doubled.

The canal contained a pair of locks in tandem each providing a lift of about 10 feet to an upbound ship.

The canal opened in June 1855 and tonnage in the first year was 14,503 but by 1860 the tonnage increased to 284,350; almost 20 times that of nine years earlier.

Courtesy Chippewa County Historical Society

Defense efforts during wartime

The barrage balloon (above) is ready for deployment at Brady Park. The balloons typically floated up to 2,000 feet with cables suspended from them while flying.

Airplanes threatening the locks would have to avoid gauntlet of the cables

Frank’s Place is a must for eats in Sault Ste. Marie, MI 

There were families at Frank’s and food enough to tide you over through lunch. Veggie omelet, homemade raisin toast and coffee for under $9.

A place as remote as the moon

French explorers visited Sault Ste. Marie around 1620 but the area remained isolated from the US population centers.

In the mid 19th century Senator Henry Clay called the upper Peninsula “remote as the moon.”

Photo courtesy Chippewa County Historical Society

In the 1880 with no railroad connection mail arrived by schooner but when the ice closed the shipping, native Americans used dog teams to run the mail between the Sault and Saginaw or Marquette.

A trip to Saginaw took from 10 days to over three weeks depending on ice conditions.

Men averaged almost 30 miles per day and usually slept out in the elements.

Courtesy Chippewa County Historical Society

A unique method of fishing the rapids teeming with whitefish attracted the Anishinaabeg people centuries before the first European explorers arrived.

A first-hand description of the fishing technique was written in 1669 by the Jesuit missionary Rev. Claude Dablon

“Dexterity and strength are needed for this kind of fishing for one must stand upright in a bark canoe and there among the whirlpools, with muscles tense, thrust deep into the water a rod at the end of which is fastened a net made in the form of a pocket into which the fish are made to enter.

One must look for them as they glide between the rocks pursue them and when they have been made to enter the net raise them with a sudden strong pull into the canoe.”

Courtesy Chippewa County Historical Society

Toured the Valley Camp which logged over 3,000,000 miles on the great lakes and is estimated to have carried 16,000,000 tons of cargo during her 50 years of service.
By 1966 the ship could no longer compete economically with the larger more modern ships on the great lakes and in the fall of 1966 she made her final trip from Milwaukee to Superior, Wisconsin.
On the lower level of the Valley Camp rests a display of the Edmund Fitzgerald including two of the heavily-damaged life rafts.
More than 10,000 people watched as the $8.4 million  vessel slid into the water Saturday, June 7, 1958.  The boat was christened by Mrs. Edmund Fitzgerald, wife of the president of the Borthwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company in Milwaukee.
Big Fitz was labeled the pride of the American flag.
On a side note:
– Even through the sign entering I75 says otherwise, bicyclists can cross the International Bridge between Sioux Ste. Marie, MI and Ontario.  It’ll cost $1.75
– Rev. Sebastian Kavumkal from Holy Name of Mary Catholic Church in Sault Ste. Marie, MI provides a safe space for me Sunday night. Rev. Kavumkal is from India and I found him outdoors watering and taking pictures of his rich red roses. “I’ve lost so many over the years to the cold,” he said.
– There was some interesting art out front of the historic Chippewa County Courthouse.
The crane of the Sault dedicated June 8, 1985 as a  gift of Stella be Osborne in memory of Chase Osborne.
Ralph Wolffe is the artist and the statue depicts the Chippewa legend of two young brothers who flee their wicked mother who is pursuing them with the intent to kill them.
When they reach the north shore of the St. Mary’s Rapids they are met by a crane who after hearing their story carries them to the South Shore of the rapids.
The crane than meets the mother on the North Shore and agrees to transport her to the other side.
Instead the crane drops the mother in the rapids and as she hits the stones below the mother’s skull cracked open and her brains become the whitefish that inhabit the rapids.
The crane adopts the boys and one of them remains in the area To marry the daughter of the crane.
 Mrs. Osborne commissioned the statue and gave the monument to the citizens of the Sault area as a reminder they are citizens of an ancient city with a rich and wonderful history and legend.
 

The BiKeWriTeR | DAY 3, Simi Valley, June 25

By
Judy
-
0


June 30, 2010 – SIMI VALLEY – I can scratch the Ronald Reagan Library off my bucket list. Paid a visit on my third day in California and it was well worth the trip.

Scott Zimmer, head of library security, took my bicycle into protective custody. It helped a ton knowing my sweet ride was locked safe while I explored.

CLICK HERE to SUBSCRIBE to The BiKeWriTeR on YouTube

The library, which opened in 1991, has a huge bronze statue of Dutch in the entryway. He’s dressed in cowboy boots and holding a cowboy hat.

Gallery after gallery featured photos of the president and his wife, and collectibles from Reagan’s two terms in the White House.

One of the unique items displayed under glass was the brand new blue suit Reagan was wearing March 30, 1981 when he was shot outside the Hilton Hotel in D.C. A small white card sitting atop the suit coat indicated the ‘bullet hole in left armpit area.’ The suit coat had to be cut off Reagan when he went to the hospital. It also must have been washed prior to being put on display.

My god… I’m turning into my mother. I can’t believe I noticed the lack of blood stains. It’s going to be my destiny…. pretty soon I’m going to be wiping the drops out of the inside of the sink.

The library also has the president’s plane, Airforce One. The Boeing 707 is indoors and measures 152-feet long and has a 145-foot wingspan.

“Ya almost thought it woulda been bigger,” said a woman in front of me on the plane tour.

Marcie drove past the exit for the Ronald Reagan Library for years, but this was her first visit.

Marcie was a saucy woman, about 5-foot-4 with flipflops, khaki cargo capris, and a lime green t-shirt that looked like she was hiding a bag full of groceries underneath.

Marcie spoke with a bit of a funky dialect. “I’m from California,” she said. I was guessing more so Alabama – think Forrest Gump. And I mean that in a warm and nonjudgemental way.

Marcie called it like she saw it; kinda like a shrug with an “I’m just saying” qualifier. Marcie also struck me as the one in the dentist chair, laid back, having a margarita made in her mouth at La Fuente.

Marcie was with her husband and girlfriend; when the docents spoke, they talked to us as a foursome.

“This was Reagan’s office and his private quarters,” said the docent standing in the doorway of the room.

“I thought it would be bigger,” said Marcie, again.

The rooms on the plane were well laid out; a handwritten letter by Nancy with a pen carrying the presidential seal set by her signature, and a pressed dark blue airforce jacket with Reagan’s name sewn into the front shoulder rested on the back of a chair. Even the seatbelts on the plane seemed meticulously placed.

There was also the ever-present jar of jelly beans. “Is that real or staged?” Marcie asked. The docent said everything was as it would have been when Reagan flew.

“Where’s the chocolate cake?” asked Marcie.

Apparently Reagan also always flew with a chocolate cake on board Airforce One should there be a birthday or anniversary. The docents said there was cake even when there wasn’t anything to celebrate.

The media seating area was next and the docent explained that reporters flying with the president had to pay for their own ticket.

Marcie let loose with her second favorite saying, “Oh, my garsh.”

In common-sense fashion, she pressed the docent for a ticket price. When Marcie couldn’t get an answer she said, “Well, I’d just go to prez.com and get the cheapest price.”

TIDBITS…

 

– There’s a certain flamboyance about California; a lot of piercings and body art. I even thought I saw that tattooed chick who messed up Sandra Bullock’s marriage.

– Obviously an open lifestyle is also more accepted in California. I even spotted a thrift store called Out of the Closet.

– Although I easily profile ‘midwestern’, I feel I’ve been accepted in California. I was biking up a long steep hill in Ventura and a kid in a big Escalade sat in a mall driveway waiting to exit. He had a bright red mowhawk,plugs the size of quarters in his earlobes, thick black eyeliner and a look of unwanted delay. I momentarily caught his eye and quickly glanced away. Then I heard the chant “Go, go, go” echoed with strong hand clapping. “Come on girlfriend – work those legs!”The kid beeped his horn and waived as he sped away.

– I never found the West Bend belt buckle presented to Reagan when he visited West Bend. That’s because an entire wing of the presidential library was under renovation. The new gallery will be unveiled Feb, 2011 in honor of the centennial celebration of Reagan’s birth.

1...345...87Page 4 of 87