Senators visiting the Western White House: Ronald Reagan's Ranch

It NEVER gets old visiting Ronald Reagan’s Ranch (Rancho Del Cielo)!  Dubbed the ‘Western White House’ because adding up the amount of time Reagan spent at the property would amount to 1 of his 8 years in office.  The Young America’s Foundation purchased the property and maintain it as if the former President just stepped out for a moment.  It’s a gorgeous location and fun look back at history!

No matter how many times I return, or how many new items are displayed, my favorite continues to be the hand-written note from Ronald to Nancy describing how to use the television:

I also really enjoyed seeing the still camera and movie camera that were used by the news folks when Reagan was at the Ranch.  The closest public place where they were able to film from was a very long distance away, so the camera’s had lengthy telephoto lenses!  It is rumored that Ronald Reagan once grabbed his chest and fell to the ground as a joke just to mess with the press on the hillside!

Here are some of the event photos of the keynote speakers.  United States Senator Ron Johnson (Wisconsin), United States Senator-elect Ted Cruz (Texas) and member of the United States House of Representatives, Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wisconsin):

One of the most remarkable people to meet, especially up at the Ranch, is John Barletta.  He was in the Secret Service for 17 years, many of them assigned to President Reagan.  He’s an incredible story-teller, and thankfully wrote many of them down in his book “Riding With Reagan: From the White House to the Ranch”.   One of my favorite images from the weekend was taken of Barletta.  He paused and looked outside the window while  recalled a story of his time with Reagan to Senator Cruz while inside the Ranch:

Thanks to Young America’s Foundation for hiring me again!!  And thank YOU for reading my blog post!