A Southern Cal Reunion!

The first weekend in June Kim and I had the opportunity to attend the wedding of a very close high school friend's son. Jon Saul was like a 4th brother to me growing up in Canoga Park. He was a swimmer, and we worked together for a while doing odd jobs with his old flat bed Chevy truck. We also worked together at a gas station of of the Ventura Freeway for a while. It was an independently owned discount station named NRG. Pretty run down, but we had a lot of fun working there.

Jon's son Mark is very talented. He is doing quite well as an actor and musician. You have probably seen him as he has had a good year doing commercials (Jack-in-the-Box, Coke, etc.). Anyway, he is making a living doing it, and that would be Dad's definition of success!

The wedding was a great excuse to have a sort of Bro reunion.. It was too bad Donnie couldn't make it, but the four of us are scheduled to get together later in the summer in Oakdale.

Sitting around Nancy's dinner table with Mike and Teri!

We stayed at John's sister in law Nancy's house in Moorpark, only a short drive to the wedding site. Mike and Teri were there early, and we arrived on Thursday evening to a wonderful home cooked dinner there at Nancy's place. Since we had a day before the wedding, we all decided to visit Universal studios together.

It was lots of fun. To me, the most notable thing was the new hi-tech rides that combine motion, sound and 3D movies. My favorite was the new "Transformers" ride. Essentially you ride through a city under attack by "Decepticons" at night. You are repeatedly attacked (physically grabbed and thrown around) and rescued, or make narrow escapes. The motion of your vehicle is carefully choreographed with the video and sound. It is the closest thing to living out a virtual reality adventure going. It was amazing. John, Mike and I went on it twice for good measure. The other 3D ride was a short excursion to "Skull Island where you are attacked by tyrannosaurs, and then rescued by none other than King Kong! In this one, your tram cars is bitten and flipped around, and just as you are about to go over a cliff, King Kong intervenes. The action moves back and forth on all sides of the car as you react to the fighting creatures who are leaping over the tram car (or being thrown over!). It is about 3 minutes of wild action. Good thing the good guys always win.

Kim, Bumble Bee, and I!

Kim wanted to pose with little Maggie, but
had to settle for Lisa.

Couldn't resist posing with Woody and Petunia!

The set of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

The rest of the park was kind of a snoozed to me, but being with Mike, John, and Jon definitely made the day a total success.

On Saturday the wedding ceremony was wonderful. I had a little trouble hearing, but from the tears coursing down Mike and John's cheeks, they must have been some touching words! We all dressed up for the occasion and I have to admit my bros are pretty impressive in their suits and ties! We were the "Bros in Black" and had a great time mugging for pictures.

Mark and Ilana under the Canopy.

The tears were flowing!

We were all stylin' at the reception!!

The "Bros in Black"!

On Sunday Kim and I had a late flight home so we went with John and Jeanne to visit the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. It was a wonderfully done museum that really brought back the feeling of the late seventies and the eighties. Lots of big time global issues from energy crises, the growth of global terrorism, and the cold war. We actually have had it pretty good for a while.

The coolest part of the exhibit was the Boeing 707 that Reagan (and seven other presidents) used as Airforce One. Yes, the real airplane is there in the building. They actually had to disassemble it, transport it to the site, reassemble it, then build the building around it. It is beautiful! Also lots of historical information exhibited around it (along with "Marine One" the Presidents helicopter).
You could make several visits and not see all there is to see, it is an amazing place.

Getting ready for my District Governor's Speech. Jimmy
Carter looks pretty enthused!

A replica of the Oval Office.

Air-Force One (Boeing 707). President GW was the last one
to use this aircraft.

Tail number 27000.

Kim and I flew home that evening and got back to the house close to midnight. A point of trivia, the fuselage of the Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 is the same as the 707, just shorter. I was glad to be home, but also very happy with the weekend!

That's All!