Saturday, October 20, 2012

Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala…

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La Jolla 101With the days waning on our stay here in San Diego we had only a few things left we want to do. One choice was to visit the Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala. The mission is the first of the 21 missions in California and called the Mother of the Missions. It was founded on July 16, 1769 by Junipero Serra and today it is an active Catholic Parish in San Diego.

La Jolla 092When first founded it was in Kumeyaay Indian territory and there is a cross beside the mission marking the place a beloved priest was killed in an Indian attack Shortly thereafter it was in the midst of Spaniards. On July 16, 1769, Father Serra established Mission San Diego and the California mission system began on this site overlooking the bay. The mission remained at this site for only five years and it was then moved six miles east where it was pillaged by the Indians and burned to the ground.

“Father Serra returned to Mission San Diego de Alcala to oversee the rebuilding of the mission. Fearing that there would be another raid, the padres rebuilt the mission according to the specifications of an army fort.“ It was abandoned for several years and in 1892 it became an American Indian children's' school. By 1931 it was rebuilt to mimic the1813 church.As time moved forward todays church is the fifth church on this historic site.

La Jolla 087La Jolla 096Walking around the grounds one gets a very real ethereal feeling… not sure if it was the historical significance of this mission or the fact that we are lucky enough to live a small part of our lives here in San Diego and we are suddenly realizing that it is nearly time to start the trek eastward. Nevertheless it was again a perfect weather day and the grounds offered beautiful architecture and landscaping making for a great day.  An unexpected additional treat was that the grounds were visited by a Cooper’s Hawk who landed in a tree along the stairway up to the mission allowing us to observe him from close range. Thankfully he paused long enough for us to snap several nice photos.

La Jolla 099From here we were struggling with moving east towards Yuma or moving a bit northeast and spend some time in the Palm Springs area. I guess life is pretty rough when that has become one of the hardest decisions we have to make… After lots of pondering we decided to go to the Palm Springs area. We couldn’t decide on exactly where to stay as the reviews are all over the place on parks in this area. But we found a promotion for four nights for $45 that we will take advantage of. We will have to listen to a one hour sales pitch but then we will be able to look at all the other parks and see if we want to stay longer at one of them.

6 comments:

  1. We invested in membership parks over seven years ago and have saved well over forty thousand dollars in camping fees. From free camping to $15.00 a night. We occasionally take advantage of those presentations as well.
    Catalina Spa Rv resort is a favourite of ours in Desert Hot Springs.

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  2. Yes, such tough choices. Sounds like you have a good plan that will lead you to warmer weather and, from what we hear, plenty of attractive rv resorts. Looking forward to hearing about your next adventures in the Palm Springs desert.

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  3. Missions are such wonderful places. They always seem so serene to me. Does California have a "Missions Trail" for those who want to travel from Mission to Mission and see them all?

    Great 4 night deal in Palm Springs. I'll be anxious to hear what you think of it. I'm pretty envious of your only difficult decisions. :-)

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  4. I love visiting Missions. The ones in Hill Country in Texas are great also. Yours looks beautiful.

    WOW...that Cooper’s Hawk looks huge and gorgeous.

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  5. I have not been to Borrego Springs, which is near Palm Springs, but have been told it's a must see. So, there you go.

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