December 6, 2013

What do you give a dad who has had 82 birthdays?

How about an adventure.

Life size sculptures of Ronald and Nancy Reagan

Off we went on an all-day tour of the Ronald Reagan Library up on a beautiful hill in Simi Valley.

A large chunk of the Berlin " tear down that wall "

The huge facility is full of interesting facts and artifacts.

The real Air Force One that was actually used by 7 presidents is a new permanent exhibit.

And you can pretend you're a president for a few moments touring the Air Force One.

This portrait is 4 feet high and 4 feet wide and is made of 10,000 Jelly Belly jellybeans; 

which were Reagan's favorite sweet ( besides Nancy ).

This portrait is made completely out of butterfly wings. I think it was from China.

This is the actual outfit Nancy Reagan wore to an official dinner on March 27, 1982 to mock the Press which was critical of her expensive style of dressing. 

This ability to poke fun at themselves was a good balance to their political ideology.

And the Library has many beautiful garments and gowns worn by Nancy Reagan but, interestingly there are no designers credited with any of the designs.

Not even the red dress worn in Nancy Reagans official portrait.

The Reagan Library is FULL of too much stuff to mention. 

It is a snapshot of history and a very different time.

All too soon it was time to mosey on home...

This was supposedly a gift to my awesome Dad,

but, it was really a gift for me too.

Love ya Dad!