THOUSANDS SHOW THEIR LOVE, RESPECT.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY - Bill Metcalf flew in from Tucson to glimpse Ronald Reagan's casket and almost gave up on account of the traffic.

Elizabeth O'Connell left her Van Nuys home at 11 p.m. to see the president, only to turn back at the miles of parked cars.

Stacey Wilson drove all the way from Lancaster - only to make a U-turn and drive back home.

But each would return late Tuesday to join the tens of thousands of mourners hoping for a last chance to circle the flag-draped casket of America's 40th president, lying in repose at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley.

``I loved the man, I had to see him; I really felt I had to pay my respects,'' said Wilson, 53, who hopped on his motorcycle Tuesday afternoon to return to Moorpark College by the 6 p.m. cutoff for mourners to be bused to the library.

Like many among the last residents to make the shuttle to Reagan's future resting place, Wilson considered himself blessed.

About 106,000 mourners passed by the coffin from noon Monday until the public viewing ended at 9 p.m. Tuesday, library officials said.

The rush to see Reagan was made possible by the addition of 25 extra MTA buses freed up to handle the logjam at Moorpark College. In all, 50 buses handled the last-minute crush of visitors.

``Oh man, it was just history,'' said Tim Donnelly, 38, a self-proclaimed ``soccer dad'' who drove his two sons from Twin Peaks in San Bernardino County for the somber tour. ``It hits you. You can't do it justice on TV.''

The flow of mourners was halted briefly with an impromptu visit from Democratic candidate John Kerry. Standing before the casket, he made the sign of the cross, placed his hand over his heart, and departed.

The viewing at the library was the first event in a week of national mourning. The president's body will be flown today from Point Mugu to Washington, D.C., to lie in state in the Capitol until a national funeral Friday - the first of its kind since the January 1973 death of Lyndon B. Johnson.

At 1:15 p.m. EDT Friday (10:15 a.m. PDT), the bells of the National Cathedral will ring 40 times, to be joined by church bells across the land.

The body will then be flown back to California for a private burial at the library Friday evening.

Cardinal Roger Mahony will preside over a public Mass at 12:10 p.m. Friday in memory of the former president at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels downtown.

Visitors to the library Tuesday included Govs. Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts. Other celebrities included Morgan Fairchild and Bo Derek.

But for the thousands who wound like a great anaconda around the parking lot at Moorpark College, it was a privilege to honor the man affectionately known as the Gipper.

One small shrine was piled with flags, balloons, teddy bears, jelly beans and such inscriptions as ``Mr. Reagan, I thank you for giving me my freedom'' and ``Heaven and Mount Rushmore await you.''

``He was a nice president, he helped lots of our people,'' said Tupou Taanea Faleola, 53, a native of Tonga in the South Pacific who was wrapped in a woven mat as a sign of Tongan respect. ``He gave us amnesty and allowed us to become citizens.''

Cleve and Debra Adams of Simi Valley got a phone call from their son, Air Force Staff Sgt. Neil Adams, serving in a special-operations unit in Afghanistan.

``He said we need to be here for him,'' said his father. ``He loves Ronald Reagan. He considers him to be a model, the greatest president we ever had.''

To pass the time, mourners read such books as ``The Da Vinci Code'' and ``Sushi for Beginners.''

``Ronald Reagan was one of my heroes, a man of character; he made the most of his life,'' said Lisa Castelo, 38, of North Hills, highlighting sections of a volume of ``Don't Waste Your Life.''

``This book is about living well, it's about honoring God and everything that we do. And that's what President Reagan did.''

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Dana Bartholomew, [phone]

dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Mourners file past the flag-draped casket of former President Ronald Reagan in his presidential library in Simi Valley on Tuesday.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

(2 -- 4) Thousands of well-wishers wait in line to board buses to the Reagan Library to see the former president's casket, left. Top, Tim Donnelly, 38, with son, Gregg, 4, writes good wishes to the Reagan family. Above, Mourners wait in line to see the former president's casket, passing a bronze statue of Reagan at the entrance. Reagan's remains were to be flown to Washington, D.C., Tuesday night, where the body will lie in state in the Capitol rotunda before a state funeral Friday, with burial in Simi Valley.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer