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  Steve Malone next to the Tax Cut Table taking a photograph.

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  Gleaves Whitney at the famous Tax Cut Table at Rancho del Cielo, in March 2004. The pigskin-covered table and chairs are designed in the Mexican equipal style (bark tethered to bark). The table became famous on a foggy August morning in 1981, when a photographer captured Reagan signing his famous tax cut legislation. The president also delivered a number of Saturday radio addresses at the table.

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  Lake Lucky is a few paces from the ranch house.
  
  The Reagans had a canoe called Tru Luv that they enjoyed taking out on the lake.

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  There are two great views from the ranch's highest point, Lookout Mountain, which rises to 2587 feet. This view to the northwest is of the Santa Ynez Valley with its charming towns and vineyards.

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  The other great view from Lookout Mountain is toward the Pacific Ocean to the south.
  
  Reagan loved the view from Lookout Mountain and would often ride his horse there to take in the scenery. He said, "You can watch boats cruising across the Santa Barbara Channel, then turn your head and see the Santa Ynez Valley unfold like a huge wilderness amphitheater before your eyes." [Hannaford, Reagan and His Ranch, p. 72.]

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  This view is from the mountain road that winds back down toward the Pacific Ocean. The Channel Islands are visible on the horizon.
  
  Between the coast and the mountaintop is a canyon that Spanish explorers called El Refugio, "the refuge." Refugio Canyon is accessible from U.S. 101 about 25 miles west of the city of Santa Barbara. At the base of the canyon are lemon and avacado groves. Live oaks and chaparrel are dominant higher up in the canyon.

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  Historian Lee Edwards, who has written a biography of Ronald Reagan, takes in the view of the Pacific from the ridgetop of Rancho del Cielo.

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  Gleaves Whitney on Lookout Mountain, Rancho del Cielo (March 2004).