I have taken many trips the the Reagan Library in Simi California. Each was unique and one even included a surprise birthday party Wendy planned for me on the celebration of Ron Reagan’s 99th birthday.  This year, I received a very special birthday gift from our friends Tina and Dennis.  Their surprise?   A personal tour of Ron and Nancy Reagan’s Rancho Del Cielo which roughly translates to Ranch of Heaven.

This article could be the length of a book.  There were so many interesting experiences and subsequently a big photo assignment for me.

We were in Malibu in March.  Tina and Dennis said to come to their home and we would drive together to Santa Barbara.  We arrived at the new Reagan Ranch Center which is in a renovated hotel next to the Amtrak station in Santa Barbara, California.  When we arrived, we were greeted by one of the directors and it was then that I learned that we were going to have a private tour of the ranch.  Our guide, Jason, packed us into a Suburban and we began our trip to the ranch which ironically overlooks where we stay in Goleta.  We ran up the freeway and just past Ocean Mesa, We turned inland on Refugio Road and headed straight up the mountain.  Winding back and forth we would catch glimpses of the ocean and the channel island now below us.  Near the top of the 3000 foot mountain we turn and stop at a gate.  Jason jumped out and unlocked our way in.   A short distance was another gate that was open and we dropped down into this green bowl pasture with a small white house with a red tile roof.   We had arrived.

The simplicity and beauty were overwhelming.  This was the famous western White House that Ron Reagan had spent nearly a year of his 8 years as president.  On and off over his two terms, he would visit and be visited by heads of state that included the Queen of England, Margaret Thatcher and even Mikhail Gorbachev the Russian president.  Now we were visiting this humble place that was Ron Reagan’s favorite place to be.

Jason told story after story as we walked through the interior rooms, the horse stable and the Secret Service barracks.  All in there original state.  Not restored, original!  Just the way they were left when Reagan was president.

No interior pictures we were told by Jason.  Tina and I had expected this.  Tina is not only a great friend, but she is also a great photographer.  Shooting a technique called HDR, Tina and I have been in some interesting places shooting pictures and this was yet another.  So, we did take the opportunity to grab some shots of the outside as Jason told stories.

Then it was lunch time and Jason drove us to the Secret Service quarters and main facility at the ranch.  It was functional and everything was right out of the 80′s.   Jason had brought lunch and we sat around the kitchen table eating and telling sories of our own Ron Reagan experiences.  It was sort of unreal and we all had interesting insights.  This began to create an interesting bond between the five of us.

Then it was onto the riding barn that was Ron Reagan’s favorite place.  As a young soldier, he was in the US Cavalry. He was an accomplished horseman and the tack room was amazing.  Jason in a momentary lapse of reasoning allowed me to shoot some pictures in the tack room.  This would become the beginning of my interesting assignment.

The day was ending and I had a few shots in the camera as we headed back down the mountain.  It was hard to realize that I had spent time here which is not open to the public.  The ranch was purchased from Nancy Reagan a short time ago by the Young America’s Foundation to preserve for history this western Whitehouse.  We returned to the Reagan Ranch Center, said goodbye to Jason and headed back toward Los Angeles.  Our trip back was full of candid conversation.

Back in Malibu, I sat down and assembled some of the pictures I shot to see how they turned out.  HDR is an amazing technique and often has very dramatic results.  So, no surprise, two of the tack room images turned out great.  The next day, I emailed them off to Jason as a sort of thank you for his time and my great birthday adventure.

Just a few days later, I received a phone call on my cell.  I did not recognize the phone number, but I knew it was a Santa Barbara exchange.  So I answered and on the other end of the call was a woman who identified herself as Marilyn Fisher, the curator of the Reagan Ranch.   She told me that she had seen the tack room pictures and wondered if I would be willing to shoot the interiors of the ranch home and “anything else I wanted to shoot.”  I held my composure as I wanted to say “Damn Straight,” and I said yes and when?  She said, “How about tomorrow.”  You bet I said.

The next morning I got my camera gear together and tested everything.  Batteries recharged, we drove north on California 101 and waited for Marilyn at the base of the off ramp to Refugio Road.  She was perfectly on time and we followed her up to the ranch.  Like before, the weather was spectacular.

When we arrived, Marilyn gave me free reign of the ranch.   Marilyn and Wendy sat in Ron and Nancy Reagan’s kitchen on stools at the kitchen counter as I began to shoot.  Everywhere I turned, there was history.  A library of books all signed by the authors, old catalogs, dial phones, memorabilia and favorite items that were Ron and Nancy’s.  The famous hat worn by Ron for the press and the Sombrero that Nancy wore for her Life Magazine cover.  Room after room, the pictures were happening as fast as I could shoot.

For my HDR photographer friends, all the shots were 9 bracket at 1 stop increments because the lighting was so difficult.   I could have closed the drapes, but I had heard from Jason that they were always open because Ron wanted to see the lake and the mountains as well as his friends the horses.  So, I could not close the drapes and lose that feel.  For my non photographer friends, each image I shot was a composition of 9 pictures merged together for their tonal properties and then processed using filters I created.  So, the 100 pictures I shot that day were comprised of 900 images.

As I shot pictures, I could hear Wendy and Marilyn talking, laughing and sometimes very serious in the kitchen.

I was done inside and moved outdoors to get my final shots.

Back at the coach, I began to assemble the images.  This literally took a week of time with my automated steps happening overnight as we slept.

About a week later, I contacted Marilyn to schedule a showing at the Reagan Ranch Center and asked here to invite anyone that she wanted.  We booked time at the theater and I took the images and put them to music and processed them into a 6 minute video to capture the essence of the shoot.

Wendy and I arrived at the center and we were greeted by Marilyn.  I handed a thumb drive to Brent the Director of Operations for the Center and he loaded the video and images onto a Mac they have and we set the video to stand-by.  I explained the HDR process to the assembled group with the caveat that what they were about to see was only 20% of the resolution of the actual images.  I shared my frustration with them that the images that I shoot are often 8 to 10 times higher resolution than can be seen on any technology other than high resolution prints done on aluminum.  Then we began.

Below is a very low resolution video that is a copy of what I presented to them.  Below that is a link to my online gallery page with more of the images.  These can be viewed in actual size once in the gallery.

My summary is, “What a wonderful birthday present from my friends Tina and Dennis!”   It was a wonderful experience to relive a part of a man’s life that so changed mine.  I met some wonderful new friends and an open invitation to return any time I want.  I am also humbled to have my pictures as now a part of Ron Reagan’s Presidential Archive.

In my corporate life we had a term for it.  BHAD!  or Big Hairy Audacious Deal!

Enjoy a bit of history…Bob!

Here is the Link to my gallery images of the Reagan Ranch.  Click Here

Borrego Christmas by Chill Travelers

Wandering is our lifestyle.

Wondering gives us perspective of what could be.

Happiness to us is simply looking forward to something.

So, it is Christmas day, edging 70 degrees and sunny in California’s Anza Borrego Desert.  We are not much for the commercial aspects of the holiday.  In fact, we mostly enjoy the peace and quiet that the day brings.  There is not much in Borrego Springs to begin with and what normally is open here is not today.

2011 was interesting!    We do not claim to have the answers and our perspective is time zero looking forward.   Rarely do we gauge our progress by looking backwards.  So looking forward, 2012 will be a very interesting year for us.

Simple goals of building a new pet products line named Back Country Medicine in a new factory in Cheyenne Wyoming (maybe) under a new company recently incorporated in Wyoming called Applied Alchemy is good for starters.  A second book titled SK!N is in the works for Keys as is a novel by Bob should take care of the writing urges.  Our plan to produce our first album by Chill Travelers…and friends is based on musical arrangements from our KORG M3 that also fuels the sound tracks to the videos we create.  This coming year is also a big push expanding our arts.  Anything but boring.

A good health goal for both of us is to swim a mile a day that requires that we be near a pool.  So in 2012 we add finding pools to our goal to “chase 70 degrees” year round.  So the 2012 tagline for us is, “Chasing 70 degrees  from pool to pool.”

We will continue to wander.  It is because our nature is to be wanderers.  It is not because we are contrarians.  We thrive on wandering.  Anything but aimless we are nomadic by design.  Nomadic  by heart.  Our friend Ben refers to himself as  “Digital Nomad” traveling and shooting incredible pictures from his mind’s eye altering reality to his own perspective of people, places and things.  A site worth seeing.  http://www.thebestofben.com/

When we grow up, we want to be Ben.  Seems like the trick is to never grow up.  Therefore, 2012 is also about marveling in a childlike way all that we see, hear and feel as we wander.  We are also digital nomads because we are always on the move, always searching and looking forward to the next turn, the next mountain and the next smiling face of old or new friend.  This digital world enables us to run our businesses, work our hobbies, passions and avocations…and to wander.

Grizzly in Borrego

The Grizzly is greener than it used to be with some interesting technology adds.  Along the way, we learned about ways to connect to the internet, go off grid and reduce our carbon footprint.  Sounds funny, but by just replacing all the hot halogen lights with LEDs reduced the cabin temperature and power consumption in half.  What a wonderful beast the Grizzly is and a credit to the innovation by our friends at ShowHauler.  It makes being referred to as the “Big Ice Cream Truck” or “Snow Hauler” by those retired RVers more tolerable.

Another thing that we have subscribed to is to perfect our forward-looking proactive work style.  It is amazing what you can accomplish when you do only those things that have a positive intention and jettison negativity, baggage, the past and dragging shit along with you.   Following our intuition is our voiceless messenger and making left turns when the urge to turn right is the easiest.  Directionally, three lefts make a right and you get to see a lot more along the way.  Maybe meeting some new friends on the way.

2012 will find us keep on keepin on spooling up our activities while also experiencing new things, people and places.

Wendy snagged the following quote from a book that she read on her Kindle.  Sounds a little like a prayer, but to us it is our mantra for 2012.

 ”No matter where I (we) go in the world, in any direction, may I (we) greet people with happiness, peace and friendliness”….at SeeLevel!

 Wendy and Bob

 Wandering, Wondering and Happy Alchemists

We will be writing either a series of articles while in Borrego Spring or one very big article.  It is so interesting here that we might even try to sell the article.  Who knows.

One of the articles will be about Borrego Valley Inn.  This is an adobe constructed series of building that reminded us of Santa Fe or Taos.  You can take a quick look at their site at www.borregovalleyinn.com

Walking through the courtyard, there is an structure that houses a very happy flock of  Australian Zebra finches.  Their sound is captivating and when we turned around there was this wonderful bird house…or was it?  No, it is their internet access point.   The geeks that installed their new high speed internet told them it had to be in the center of the courtyard.  Thinks, the owners decided to commission a bird house from a local artist.   The detail is amazing.  Even more amazing is that it hides the electronics for their internet access point.

Film at 11!

Bob & Wendy

Grab the Ball and Run, Run, Run!

Your birthday message? Grab the  ball and run, run, run!

The best gift that we can give you is some advice that we can all learn from our “Voiceless Messenger” friends.

Life is about simple truths. One of them is that we have a lot to learn from our animal friends. Science says we evolved from apes and some of us believe we have not evolved very far. Others believe we have followed somewhat of a devolutionary path. In reality, we all have choices and choices are certainly better than none.

In all the experience we have had to offer you on your life’s path, it would be far too easy to tell you all the things you need to learn, things to avoid and what is the meaning of success. We think it is better to share with you something more profound.

Some great philosophers seem to concur that happiness is looking forward to something in life. We take it a set further-offering that happiness is an individual trait that we cannot gain from others. It is personal. Even as twins, your interests are different and your dreams are already forming. So looking forward to things is happiness as long as they are your own dreams.

Therefore, it is important to look forward to things with blinders on. Don’t let anyone distract you while also realizing that defining moments can set, altar or deflect your course. Resist them and you rob yourself of adventure.

So we thought and thought about how to learn to look forward to things and offer that following your bliss, recognizing your passion for things and never let anyone take away your dreams is our best guide to the future and happiness.

Turns out that it is probably a good lesson at any age, so consider this as a part of our annual birthday wishes for you both.

Now for the animal connection. Below is a video we published here before. It is about a chance encounter that Japser puppy had with a little black dog named Satchy on a desolate Oregon Beach. What transpired next is a lesson on finding your bliss wherever you are in life. Very appropriate today on your birthday.

Happy Birthday Megan and Mason!

I have come to believe that CNN is a terrorist conspiracy to depress America and send us into eternal negativity.  Well, maybe FOX News as well.  Okay, NBC, ABC and CBS as well.  Not Dianne Sawyer though!

I have been studying youthfulness, chemicals, prescription drugs and anything I can reach to figure out why we age and why we look older.  Aging is gradual or fast for some.  Traveling as we do, I often see people that are younger than me looking very old.  I, on occasion, see people that are older than me looking younger than me.  Fortunately, these occurrences are fewer.

My studies will be revealed in my new book which does not yet have a title or even a subject.  What I have found is that youth comes from exercising one particular area of our bodies.  You guessed it, it is the endocrine systems.  And you thought it was going to say sex.

Turns out that when you exercise your endocrine system, all these hormones and things rush into our bodies through the lymphatic system giving us energy, hope, excitement and yes sex.  After all, it is only natural, right.

Yes, sex ranks right up there preserving our youth.  My friend Mehmet Oz (aka Dr. Oz) says that for health, we should have sex 200 days a year.  You know what is more powerful than sex 200 days a year?   300 days a year….sorry I lost track.   What is actually more powerful than sex is laughter.  A hard belly laugh that brings tears to your eyes is perhaps the most powerful fountain of youth drug we can take.   Combine that with 300 days a year of sex and we are reversing the aging process…sorry I digress.

So, if laughter is such a cure, why do we watch CNN?  Does CNN make you laugh?  Not me and that is why I have been CNN-Free for ten years going on 11.  No irony that it was the overload of 9.11.2011 that took me over the top.

Recently, since we spend a great part of our summer in the cool weather of Newport Oregon, I have attempted to be controversy-free .  This year has been particularly difficult finding me searching for positive things to latch onto.  Little Newport Oregon, like much of the country, is encased in politics and disputes.   So, I have sought out the artist, music and entertainment community in search of youthful making endochrine rushes to help preserve my youthful feelings and appearance.   Swimming every day, watching my diet and doing one thing different every day has really helped.  I do really feel like I have ticked off a year or two in my “real age” this year.

So, what is all this weird bullsh*t whilst this tort like writing is wrapped around a funny looking book cover.  The keyword is “funny!”

Where we are staying at Pacific Shores RV Resort in Newport is not without its own politics.  Like many places, this place feels that it must control every aspect of its existence by focusing on the CNN moments that are locally grown.

So today is 9/11/2011.  The ten year anniversary of the fateful day that changed the world.  In  business we call it a wildcard.  “An event” that changes the course of history.

I woke this morning to an email from my best friends on earth, excluding my very very best friend Wendy…  It was a emotional recounting of the day when my friend Teunis was visiting from the Netherlands…our second country.  He started by remembering our experience on 9/11 when he had arrived in Washington DC the night before from Amsterdam.  Driving to pick him up, I heard the first reports of the airlines hitting the twin towers.  I picked him up and his eyes told the story that he already knew what was going on.  Rather than driving to the office, we drove to our home, a Frank Llyod Wright style structure in the midst of the Annapolis Maryland wooded forest just twenty miles from the Pentagon.  We walked through the front door and the news of the devastation was intense.  My first thoughts were to alert Blanche, Teunis’s wife, that he was Okay.  Many people do not know that most of the internet communications center on the east coast was the Twin Towers.   They were out and I searched to find an internet connection.  Being a geek and ex-DIA, I was able to find a link from a totally unsung hero of the day.  Whatever their name, they were a Pacific Bell IT person that decided to drop their security and firewall to open the internet access that they were still affording in San Francisco.  To most, the internet was gone with the towers.  I was able to get an email through to the Netherlands via that PacBell portal.  Satisfied, I returned to watch the terror that was occurring at about the time Flight 93 was headed toward DC.  The rest of the afternoon was emotionally draining at best.

We headed for downtown Annapolis for dinner to a most quiet and somber tone.  We needed to eat and we needed to gather up Teunis’s belongings from the B&B downtown.  He had to stay with us and we knew that it would be a while because of the grounding of all flights.  The restaurant we sat in was quiet and somber as well.  Through most of the dinner there was silence and then the sound of laughter came from another table.  Honestly, it seemed strange and very refreshing.

So today, 9.11.2011, ten years later, we awoke to the wonderfully honest message from Teunis.  With a tear, I responded with equally as appreciative response.   Teunis’s message was heartfelt and also a messenger of how we should spend our day.

Typically, we would head south to Nye Beach to our favorite coffee shop.  This day we headed north because Wendy wanted to look for some warmer fleece tops at the outlet mall north of us.  We stopped for breakfast and we were early for the stores opening.  Wendy picked up a local beach tabloid and began to read it as we went toward the stores.  To our surprise, there was an article about the general manager at the place we are staying.   Turns out that Steve is not only a great hospitality manager, he is also an author.  Better said, he is a comedian.

His book, The Unnatural Aging of Cheese, (his nickname)   was available for sale and he is scheduled to do a reading at one of our favorite places, Cafe Mundo in Nye Beach, this Saturday coming form 4pm to 6pm.  Just then, driving south from Lincoln City Oregon, Wendy said stop!  Pull Over!  There is Bob’s Books she excalimed.  Now, I often have these experiences with Wendy, so I pulled over.  Okay, besides it is my name, what is the deal?   They sell Steve’s book she exclaimed.   We went in an sure enough they had it.  Coughing up $12 we were on our way.  Safe to say, by the time we returned to Newport, Wendy had read most of the book to me.  Literally belly laughing the entire way, we realized that we had spent the ten year anniversary of 9/11 the best way we could.

It is indeed a serious day.  Let us not forget that part of rebuilding is looking forward to something.  A new direction.  Yes, it is a good day to remember the loss, but what are we to learn and what are we to do?  The answer to us begins with laughter to clear the soul.  Then it is to plan the new plans, scheme the schemes and look forward rather than backwards.  To us, all the half-staff flags today said remember, but they also said to us, “What have you done for us lately?”

So, we laughed the day whilst still remembering the loss.  Rather than going home, we stopped for lunch and remembered as well as lifting a toast to our friend Teunis and Blanche.

It was a good day thanks to Steve and his very funny book.  I am glad to know him and I am sincerely looking forward to his book reading at Cafe Mundo in Nye Beach from 4p-6p on September 17, 2011.

It is good to laugh and exercise our endocrine system, so it may qualify under the new healthcare law.

Chill!

It began with Tina’s dog Miller.  He is a bull terrier with an amazing personality.  When we walked into Tina and Dennis’s home north of Los Angeles, there was this picture of Miller in this quad view that just intrigued us.  Now Tina has created this image of Jasper for his first birthday.

Tina’s work has inspired us to grab as many pictures of Jasper growing up as we can.  This image we shot playing ball with Jasper on the beach near where we stay in Newport Oregon.  He loves playing ball, running full tilt after it and returning it for another go.   This image is an ankle high grab shot that Bob shot while Jasper was returning the ball.  The fog was rolling in and the depth of field was short.  Inspired by Tina, we applied some oil painting software filters she recommend we buy to the image.  What came out was the dramatic image of Jasper and his favorite ball.

Okay, so he is our kid!

Jasper has a new neighbor friend here in Newport, named Satchmo.  He is from Sedona , Arizona.  They became friends on the beach in Newport Oregon.  We can only assume that Satchy was named after the great American trumpet player.

Louis Armstrong  nicknamed Satchmo , was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans,Louisiana.

Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an “inventive” cornet and trumpet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the music’s focus from collective improvisation to solo performance.

With his instantly recognizable deep and distinctive gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also greatly skilled at scat singing, vocalizing using sounds and syllables instead of actual lyrics.

Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong’s influence extends well beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general.

So, when I was editing, I noticed a sort of dance that the two had.  It was honestly inspiring.

I decided that I would take parts of the video and put them in slow motion to capture the dance and the style these two had.  Magic Moments is a phrase that comes to mind.

Here is what I saw in the editing process, shortened to an interesting segment that seems to be a life story of sorts!

If you have not watched the video below, I would recommend looking at it first to put this ‘short’ in perspective.

We are in one of our favorite places at Pacific Shore RV Resort in Newport Oregon trying to mix a lot of work with some punctuated moments of reality.  At this time of the year, the weather is clear and sunny with daytime temps in the high 60′s.  When it is low tide at a reasonable time of day, we walk Jasper down to the beach from the location and walk three or four miles on the beach.  Wendy thought that Jasper might carry his love for chasing balls to the beach, so we went down with video cameras in hand to get the results below.

What is especially fun is that during this process, we let Jasper off-leash to see if he would listen to us and come when we called him.  Despite his Texas independence, he did well.  Take a look.

Some Ca video

A Day in California from Ryan Killackey on Vimeo.