One of the excursions was to the Nethercutt Museum, home to a collection of over 100 vintage automobiles and the Canadian-Pacific Royal Hudson locomotive with a 1912 Pullman Railcar. Across the street, the San Sylmar houses a further 250 restored automobiles in a re-created automotive salon of the 1920's and 30's. The next two floors are homes to an incredible collection of artifacts and one-of-a-kind musical instruments. While it may appear strange that one man had a passion for both cars and musical instruments, the common denominator is in fact his love for and fascination with anything mechanical. Here are a few pics of the autos:
This little vintage is for my dad, whose first car was a 1957 green edition, and the same one that I learned to drive in. The VW here is a 1946 model, but I was most excited to notice that it has the same trafficators (turn signals) as on our old bug, the ones that popped out like little arms.
For those of us who enjoy RV-ing, there was a vintage camper. It was interesting to see the layout inside, which included a bathroom, galley kitchen and beds.
The salon with the musical instruments was wonderful, and the mechanical musical instruments are a marvel. The collection of automated mechanical instruments includes player pianos, nickelodeons, cylinder and disc music boxes and a Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ. We were treated to a mini concert by several of the instruments, including the theme song from Phantom of the Opera.
I may not know much about cars or their vintages, but it was quite inspiring to see this extraordinary collection and how automobiles changed over the decades. Likewise, an education in the history of mechanical musical instruments was equally inspiring, many of which I had never heard of or known they existed.
Today we toured the Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. That too was interesting and we could well have spent at least one more day absorbing all the information. The docent-led tour gave us a good overview of the impressive museum and grounds, ending with a "presidential" lunch under the wing of Air Force One.
Here are a few memories of the day -
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| beautiful garden, a replica of the White House Rose Garden with gorgeous yellow rose bushes |
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| spectacular views from the garden |
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| section of the Berlin wall, a reminder of Reagan's role in helping tear down the wall |
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| Reagan's grave |
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| Air Force One, used by seven US presidents |
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| a jelly-bean portrait of our jelly-bean-loving president |
The best part of the whole day was enjoying a ride with the 40th President of the US (this one is for you,Kasia!).
Tomorrow, bright and early, we leave for Pomona and the FMCA Rally. The next several days promise to be busy so it may be a while before I post again.