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The Outdoors

Ronnie would ring the bell when it was time for me to go riding. ~ Nancy Reagan

The exterior of the ranch is just as interesting as the interior. Up the hill from the house, by the barn, is an antique train bell that once belonged to Nancy Reagan's grandfather, a railroad engineer.

"Ronnie would ring the bell when it was time for me to go riding," Nancy Reagan recalls. When they returned, she says, Reagan would help her off her horse, "No Strings," and kiss her.

On the front porch there is the round leather and wooden table on which President Reagan signed the largest tax cut in American history into law, 1981's Economic Recovery Act. A red ranch jeep (used in 1981 to ferry Barbara Walters around the ranch) is parked in the barn. The riding lawnmower bearing the presidential seal is still functional.

And in the tool shed, one can see the McCulloch Pro Mac 850 chainsaw that Reagan frequently used to clear trails and cut logs.

It is hard not to be moved by the sight of the Reagans' initials, "NDR + RR," carved into the sandstone alcove of a giant rock. Or the burial site of their favorite dogs and ranch animals, with headstones that the President carved himself, out of a sense of reciprocal loyalty to those who had served him well.

To experience Rancho del Cielo is not merely to encounter an exceptionally beautiful and significant historical site. The place is also a window into the soul of Ronald Reagan.