On to San Diego

9 Key Leaders in Nixon's time

We began our day at the Nixon Presidential Library and ended up spending 3 hours here. We started with a tour of the highlights by a docent, which really was a great way to see this place, then saw the movie about Nixon (created while he was still alive, so he made many comments about his own life), and finally, we visited a few highlights to learn more about his years between the Vice Presidency and running for President in 1968, his major policies during office, and the Watergate investigation. One comes away with a great sense of how he changed the world by meeting with many world leaders to make the world a more peaceful place, the Chinese in particular. What was shocking was to see the role reversal of Democrats and Republicans over the years. Nixon created the EPA for example, and proposed a national health system, while the Democrats opposed both.  The Watergate section was brand new, created by the National Archives rather than the Nixon Foundation. It was interesting to walk through the timeline – how he misused FBI and CIA resources at first to find the leakers of the Pentagon Papers, but later against his political opponents. They showed how the 18 minute gap in the Presidential tapes couldn’t have been done accidentally, because there was evidence of multiple erasures. Even today, with more sophisticated techniques, we can’t recover what was on those tapes.

The Stone Church, San Juan Capistrano

            After lunch, we visited our last mission for this trip, San Juan Capistrano. It really was the highlight of the missions. From the ruins of the original stone church, which was built in 1797 and destroyed in the 1812 earthquake to the Serra Chapel, this is the oldest chapel in continuous use of all the missions.

            We then headed to South Carlsbad State Beach for our camping site. Scrunched between the old Highway 101 and the beach, there are camping sites on both sides of the park. We would get to fall asleep to the Ocean tonight (after 101 quieted down).

View from our campsite

            We met Flo and Bill for dinner that night. It was really great to meet with old friends, friends we originally met on our trip to Peru. It’s amazing how coming from very different backgrounds, we really enjoy each others company. They have a beautiful house a few blocks up from the ocean. We were particularly impressed with the kitchen. Tomorrow they are taking us around the San Diego area.