Our Southern California Home

We rented a cute little house in Valley Village near Studio City.  Its about 10 minutes from Universal Studios and just a little north of Hollywood.  We can be at the beach in Santa Monica in about 20 minutes.  What a great find this house was for us.  It is nice and roomy and has an absolutely beautiful backyard.  Like many of the houses out here its tucked behind a fence so you would never know its here.

We are headed for the beach today, but will be back here for a swim at the end of the day and we have some nice steak to barbeque for dinner.

                                                                             Photos Courtesy of Diana Magee, Blog Photographer

Front View of the house

Sitting area by the front door

Dining Room

Christina in the Living Room

Kitchen

Fireplace in the Living Room

MastBedroom

Girls Bedroom

Master Bath

Girls' Bathroom

Our Own Orange Tree

Pool

Pool and Yard

Hot Tub and Fire Pit

Santa Barbara and Simi Valley

After a continental breakfast at the hotel we got on Route 101 and headed to Santa Barbara about 1 1/2 hours away.  Santa Barbara seems to be a beautiful city with nice homes and red tiled roofs.  We visited the old mission there touring the grounds   and visiting the church.  The mission was in good condition but we saw from the pictures that it has suffered a lot of earthquake damage over the years.

This nice monk greeted us as we arrived

 

 

 

 

 

Courtyard

Inside the Church

We went back on the road again and headed to Simi Valley north of Los Angeles.  Up on a mountain there is the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, the largest and most popular of the libraries.  It's a beautiful building and we found the exhibits to be very well done.  They guide you through his life beginning with his early years, going on to his broadcasting career, acting, governor of California and then president.  Highlights include the Oval Office replica, a walk through Air Force One and then his grave.

:Library Entrance

Oval Office

China Pattern

My Fellow Americans

Air Force One

Marine One

Presidential Limo

Speech Announcing His Illness

Berlin Wall

South Lawn

Grave Marker

 
This is my fourth presidential library and 12th presidential grave site.

At the end of the day, we checked into our beautiful house in Valley Village and ate dinner on the patio before taking a swim and jumping in the hot tub.  Will post some of these pictures tomorrow.

Hail to the Chief

This is our last driving day of the trip and we'll be headed more inland.  We'll make a stop in Santa Barbara about 1 1/2 hours from Pismo Beach and then another at the Ronald Reagan Library which is an hour or so from there and then  finally in Valley Village, PA where we will spend the next four nights. so the drive is at least nicely broken up.

Santa Barbara is called America's Riviera because of its beautiful Mediterranean climate and homes.  I was surprised to read that it only has 88,000 people since I thought it was larger. The city is also known for its restaurants, great variety, lots of fresh seafood, lots of wine from nearby wineries.  Sounds like we should spend more time here.

Butt the main reason is to visit the Queen of the Missions, Mission Santa Barbara, established in 1786.  This mission was built in 1820 replacing earlier buildings destroyed in an 1812 earthquake and they say the interior of the church looks as it did back then.

Historically the church has served as a pro-cathedral a couple of times as the Vatican split up California.  Because of this distinction, it is the only Mission in California with two bell towers.  This special architectural feature was restricted to a cathedral church.  Spain lost California to Mexico in 1822 and for a time the Mexican government took over the missions from the church.  With the gold rush in 1848, California became part of the US and in 1865 good old Abe Lincoln returned the mission properties to the Catholic Church.




Twenty one missions were established in California over 64 years in the first New Evangelization which was very successful.  Find out more about these missions here


 




Then its off to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library atop a hill in Simi Valley California.  Its the largest of the presidential libraries and the final resting place of Ronald Reagan, our 40th president.  The library holds all of the presidential papers, lots of exhibits, artifacts and other cool stuff for us presidential buffs.  It has a replica of the Oval Office like most presidential libraries, but uniquely has the Air Force One Pavilion holding a retired jetliner that you get to go through.  Very cool.

Five Presidents Attended the Opening

Oval Office

Air Force One

Berlin Wall

Hilltop Site

  



Then its off to our home in Studio City.  This one will give us a little more room and we'll be able to relax in the pool or hot tub.  Its conveniently located north of LA and will give us access to the places we will visit over the next couple of days.  It will be good to put down some roots for awhile.

Pool

Dining Area

Living Room

Hot Tub