DISNEY MUSEUM

Disney Museum
Today is Wednesday, October 6, 2009. We are heading for the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. Besides Kelli and Tony, there are six residents, and a staff CNA on the Quail Creek mini bus. We depart at 9:30. It is a great day for a ride to a great city!
The evergreen trees around here certainly look healthy. They are a deep green color. An orange Syar -cement truck is unloading concrete at the new Michael Campos Drive, Three other trucks are standing by waiting to dump their loads. I notice the trucks because my son-in-law Tom drives for Syar. We were passing too fast to check if I saw him, so just waved as we passed by, This road will be very nice, when it is completed. It is a short cut to get from the freeway to Paradise Valley.
It’s a nice day for an “outing”. It is a cool crisp morning, with the forecasted temperature running up to 78 degrees this afternoon. We can expect cooler weather in San Francisco - especially in the area of the Golden Gate bridge. It is “smoggy” in the valleys.
The California Highway Patrol is busy early today. We passed three different “Stops” along the way to Vallejo (15 miles). There are quite a few trucks in the Westbound -Weigh & Inspect Station - a good sign. A highway sign reads: Vallejo - 14
San Francisco - 44
From the top of Hunter Hill, above Vallejo, I get a good view of Six Flags Park and Mt. Tamalpaius in Marin County some 40 miles away. The silent roller coaster structures stand out. They look lonely with the Six Flags Park closed. It seems strange that I don’t see any golfers on the Par 3 nine hole golf course in Vallejo. The course sits on the infield of the Fairgrounds race track. Perhaps it has been closed , the City of Vallejo having declared bankruptcy. We are passing the California Maritime Academy. It has been enlarged quite a bit since it became part of the California State College system a few years ago. A Chevron Station alongside the freeway is advertising gas at $3.18.
A Chrysler convertible - top down - charges on to the freeway. Oh nostalgia! My thoughts go back to my beautiful 1941 Chevrolet convertible - maroon - black top - red leather upholstery - white side walls, with rear fender skirts! What a beauty!
There are a lot of sound walls along the freeway. I remember when they were built - not that long ago. Yet, long enough so that they are covered with climbing vines. Certainly a lot better that the graffiti! The City is very hazy when viewed from the Golden Gate Fields area. I still miss the wooden sculptures in the mud flats, adjacent to the Bay Bridge area.
The water of the Bay is very clean and blue now. It didn’t used to be that way. Tony by-passes long lines of cars, waiting to pay their bridge tolls, by taking a Ride Pool/ Bus only express lane. He probably saved us ten minutes! The Bay Bridge has been a workhorse for more than 70 tears! 40 million toll payers used the bridge last year - paying $43 million in tolls! I would think that the State Auditor would be interested in these statistics. It averages just over a dollar a vehicle. How can that be with $4 tolls and multiple- axle vehicles even paying higher tolls? The new East Span, which will be complete in 2013 will cost over an estimated six BILLION dollars! Go figure!
I get the usual beautiful panoramic view of San Francisco from the upper deck of the bridge. The Larkspur ferry is just leaving the Ferry Building dock.
Tony drives across the downtown streets, from Market to Lombard Streets, using Mission and Van Ness. He takes a left on to Lombard Street. This is a very interesting street! “A Doggie Day Care Center”; (I’ve seen everything now!); A Motor Inn squeezed between two buildings; “Home Plate” - Breakfasts; a “Pet Hospital”; “Marina Motel”; apartment buildings and houses, with garages underneath. I wonder how many of these people have cars? And, if they do - and garage them - how do they ever get their car in, and out of the garage, with the traffic on this busy street? We pass the “Palace of Fine Arts” building, which houses the “Exploratorium“.
We pass close to Fort Scott - a Coast Artillery unit during WWII. I thought of Ray Odum, and his wife, Jean. I usually eat at the same table with them. During our meals, they often speak of Fort Scott,. Ray was stationed there when they met in San Francisco. I almost feel like I was stationed at Fort Scott, too. But, it was an Army base. Jean and Ray are a very interesting couple. They will be married for 69 years on November 23! Their married life was similar to Marie’s and mine. They met on a blind date in San Francisco in 1940. Ray was transferred to Ft. Lewis (WA) to join a Coast artillery unit. After about a seven month courtship, they got married at Fort Lewis. She was 19 and Ray was 26. In ten days, his unit shipped out to Anchorage. Ray asked if his “bride” could join him? He was told that if he could find quarters for her, she could join him. He found a room right away, and sent for her. Before her arrival, he found a house. She often complains about cooking on the coal stove and heating the house with a pot-belly stove.
We pass near Crissy Field, which is now an environmental education center. Tony turns in to the Presidio area. This is a huge area - almost 1500 acres. This is two and a third square miles! (Tony could have used the GPS system to locate the Museum building). We arrived at the Museum at 11:00.
The Presidio is prime property! (Uncle Sam is very good at “Selection”). The commercial interests would have liked to have gotten their hands on this piece of real estate! The National Park Service controls the area, and manages 20 percent, (the coastal area)while The Presidio Trust manages the other 80 percent interior area. Congress mandated that the Presidio Trust be self sufficient by 2013. The Presidio is a National Historic Landmark,
George Lucas’ has a new facility, (Digital Arts Center), located in a portion of the former Letterman Hospital. This facility replaces his Lucas Arts headquarters in San Rafael.
They did a great job in restoring and converting an attractive long red brick building to house the new “Walt Disney Family Museum”. Today, is only the seventh day of operation. This is a huge facility. There are ten permanent galleries spread out over the First and Second Floors. There is a Theatre and Learning Center on the Lower Level. They also have a small Café and Store on the First Floor. Admission to the Museum is $20 for Adults ($15 for Seniors). There is an additional $10 charge for admission to the Theatre on the Lower Level.
The ten permanent Galleries are arranged in Chronological order following Walt Disney’s life and career. You start out viewing exhibits of Disney’s early childhood and early years. Then, the Galleries follow his career through to the end of his life on December 15, 1966 - from drawing cartoons, to the production of animations for television and the theatre.
My favorite exhibit was that of “Disneyland”, a very large model of the facility, including a model railroad running around the perimeter of the Park. Disneyland was opened to the public on July 18, 1955.
While Walt was in on the vision and planning of Disney World and Epcot Center, he died before they were built and operational. Disneyworld opened in Orlando on October 1, 1971, with the adjoining Epcot Center opening on October 1, 1982.
I spent over an hour walking, hurriedly, through all of the Exhibits. But, I barely scratched the surface. I read very little of the voluminous written material, used only a very few of the listening devices and watching the videos or I would need another couple of sessions to take in all of it. It was quite a thrilling surprise when - between Exhibit areas - directly ahead of me was a spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge - through a huge glassed area! It was a fantastic experience.
We had lunch together in the café‘. Then,- a quick trip through the Museum Store, and we left for Fairfield at 1:45.
Tony decided to go back by a different route, which made our ride that much more enjoyable. We departed the Presidio on to Doyle Drive which led us on to the Golden gate Bridge. What a surprise! The South Tower area was socked in. It was eerie to see the oncoming cars with their headlights on. Visibility was probably down to 50 yards! I was surprised to see so many walkers and bicyclists on the bridge.
It was interesting - the North Tower of the bridge was in the clear. At the “Lookout” at one o’clock above, was a long line of people - with camera at the ready - either taking pictures of the bridge and/or the San Francisco skyline. We enter the Waldo Tunnel with the rainbow archway. What a spectacular bird’s eye view of Sausalito down below. It is really a nice city.
Now, I have a good close-up view of Mt.Tam. There is a seaplane docked in Tiburon. Now, we are passing a “Pumpkin Patch” - Halloween’ is not far away! We are passing through Corte Madera. We are still traveling on 101N. We pass by Larkspur, and it’s Ferry Terminal. We are nearing San Rafael and the Exit to San Quentin. A little further and I can see one of their large buildings.
We are passing through San Rafael. There are a Infiniti and a BMW dealer to the right. This is Marin County! We pas the Marin County Civic Center and the County Fairgrounds. A roadside sign - “Hamilton Field”. This always bring back a strong memory. I went overseas from here in 1945 in a C-54 troop carrier. I ended up with the 345th Bomb group flying B-25’s off Ie Shima - five miles off Okinawa - in the Ryukus Islands.
We leave Highway 101, and merge on to Highway 37. We pass Black Point where they used to hold the Shakespearean festivals. It must be high tide as the slough is lapping at the side of the road. We are now back in Solano County. I see a heron wading in the water alongside.
We pass the intersection of 37 and 121. A left turn will take you past the popular Infineon Raceway, where they hold the NASCAR races.
As we approach Mare Island the water along side is red! Strange! Could there still be some contamination from war usage of the base? As we climb the bridge over the Napa River, the northern docks are empty. Not too many years ago, there were a few submarines berthed there - either waiting to be repaired, or in storage.
We arrive back at Quail Creek at 3:00. Tony tells me that our trip covered 117 miles. It was a long and tiring day, but most worthwhile. I would recommend a visit to the Disney Museum.

RCL - 10/8/09.