California Here We Come

Californian RV Resort, south of Palmdale, north of LA, was our first stop in California. This hillside resort is a great home base while touring the area.

The view is outstanding.

California Poppy, the State Flower

On Friday we drove north to the small town of Boron to the Borax Visitor Center. Here we learned all about the Borax industry and viewed the mammoth mining equipment operating in California's largest open pit mine. The pit measures one mile wide, one and one-half miles long and about 650 feet deep. It could hold up to 66 billion gallons of water or 77,000 Olympic swimming pools. This free museum provides an overview of modern mining and the roles minerals play in everyday life.

An Original 20 Mule Team Wagon

Buried deep in the Mojave Desert this is one of the
biggest and richest deposits of borate on the planet.

The tires on the trucks that haul the ore are 12 feet tall.

 The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum opened in 1991. The Library sits high on a mountain with  views of the surrounding mountains, valleys and the Pacific Ocean. We have visited a number of presidential libraries and this is now a favorite.

"Ronnie" Greats All Visitors

An Exact Replica of the Reagan Oval Office

This is the Air Force One in which Ronald Reagan
logged 660,000 miles visiting 26 countries.

Conference Room on Air Force One

The President's Limousine and Motorcade

Nancy joined Ronald in March and they are now
both interred at this site.

We swung by the Channel Island National Park Visitor Center to look at the exhibits and watch a 30 minute video about the five off-shore islands. Because the islands are relatively inaccessible this is about as close as we will be getting. The visitor center is located on a pier with restaurants and shops. On the drive home we stopped at a couple of fruit stands and bought some delicious in-season strawberries and oranges.


Channel Islands National Park Visitor Center in Ventura