This is where we spent our last night on the road--in Tonopah! It is a very nice park. The place in Ehrenberg was full, probably because of the big gem show going on in nearby Quartzite. It made for a long drive, but the trip home today was just a little over 3.5 hours, much nicer! Great trip, as usual, but always nice to be home.

Wouldn't be a trip without seeing some cars!

This weekend there is a hot rod show at the Pomona Fairplex. Last weekend was a quilt show and we were parked right next to one of the vendors...but I missed out! Here are the three cars we saw in our RV Park before leaving for Ehrenberg on Thursday morning.

The owner of these two lives in Lake Havasu.

Ronald Reagan Library

So much traffic and so many insane drivers. Maybe we are also insane for getting out on the freeways! But we wanted to see the Ronald Reagan Library, and it was very impressive.

I just took a few random pictures here and there. This was near the beginning of the tour. You could actually check out (rent) little gadgets to take pictures to email back home! I didn't even check into it, but there were lots of them all over the place.

Part of the reproduction of the oval office...

...and another. It was hard to get pictures because of all the people there to do what we were doing.

I had never heardd that Nancy sought out Ron because her name was on a list of Communist sympathizers, and he was president of the screen actors' guild at the time. I think I have that right. Anyway, apparently it all worked out!

Here are some of Nancy's outfits. Such a tiny woman!

Flags representing the 16 countries he visited as president

This is a picture of one of the Republican debates held here four years ago.

We were able to tour Air Force One. Very cool.

Wow!

One of the limousines

The helicopter is more updated than the one we saw yesterday--it has seatbelts!

At the western White House

There was a great little cafe on the site, so we didn't have to drive around looking for a restaurant! And look at the wonderful views!

Gorgeous!

Richard Nixon Library

Before we headed to Yorba Linda, we took a short walk around the RV park, enjoying the sunshine and blue skies.

Naturally we got to the Nixon library an hour before it opened, but we weren't sure what the freeway traffic would be like. Yikes, how do people drive in it every day?! This is the presidential helicopter used by Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford. It cost about $1,000,000. Today the president has five helicopters (for security after 9/11) each costing about 50 million!

Cary poses patiently in front of the library before it opened.

Periodically the display here changes. I cannot believe all the work went into this lego display. In March there will be a special display in honor of Pat Nixon's 100th birthday. That will be something to see.

Julie's wedding dress was on display, as well as that of her sister Tricia. I somehow missed taking a picture of the lovely blue dress that Pat Nixon wore at her husband's inauguration.

A very impressive Lincoln limo, it was stretched to accomodate more seating, bulletproofed, and has tires that could all be shot out and still go about 40-50 mph for some distance if necessary. That bar in the back can be popped up out of the trunk for secret service men to grab onto in case of an emergency,

So much to learn, and frankly, I would do the tour differently next time. We had a docent, which meant we had no time to read any of the displays. Our legs and backs were sore enough, not to mention we were getting hungry, that we didn't spend much time going back through. Maybe another year.

Despite any accomplishments Nixon made during his years in the White House, he will be especially remembered for Watergate and being the first president to resign from office.

Nixon was born in this house on January 9, 1913, on a cold day, apparently so much so that the doctor came here, rather than his mother going to the hospital. The original furniture was put in storage by his sister-in-law after his mother's death, so when this library was established, the furnishings could go into the house for us to enjoy.

Richard Nixon and his wife are buried on the grounds at the library. I would love to see the gardens in the spring when they are in full bloom.

Ehrenberg, AZ

After a chilly night--colder than we expected--and no heat working, we are ready to head across the river to Pomona. A friendly neighbor from Alberta took our picture.

Buena Tierra RV and Casa Grande events

As soon as we got to the Buena Tierra RV Park in Casa Grande, Cary got to work on moving his tool box so he could secure our bicycles a little better.

When the Finneys joined us on Friday we all went into town for Mexican food. Eva's is on Sunland Gin Road, heading into Arizona City.

A great car show, bigger than last year's.

The street fair was nice, also bigger than last year's. Andrea and I found some great fabric for future projects at the quilt shops. Patti and Andrea got matching Route 66 t-shirts. Here are Tony and Cary solving a few of the world's problems, while enjoying Bill's secret recipe salsa!

 I wanted to make sure we could all get in the picture after I set the timer, so Andrea and I practiced.

When Patti came over, we all got into the act. Andrea's fifth wheel is gorgeous!

Okay, four of us fit in, with obvious room for two more. Success is on the horizon. Jillie thinks so too!

Here we are before the feast. Tomorrow we head for Ehrenberg on the way to California, while the others have to go back to Tucson.