On our mission to visit missions this weekend, we are now at Mission San Buenaventura in Ventura. While it was kind of funny that someone had put soap in the mission fountain, my photo didn’t capture the giggle, so I opted to show the front of the complex that faces the street.
One thing fairly constant we are noticing is that the altars in the mission churches are fairly modest when compared to churches, even in the small villages of Europe. I suppose it should be easy to deduce that as these were convenience stops for the Roman Catholic priests on a “mission” to convert the local population of California to the ways of the church, they weren’t being built to draw a large congregation of wealthy donors to celebrate god.
Santa Barbara is the next mission heading north from Ventura. While my aunt and uncle live nearby, we are not stopping by as were are intent on visiting as many missions as possible.
Maybe it’s the lighting or the motifs, but something about this reminds me of the Luxor Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.
Time for a view of the Pacific and The Channel Islands National Park with Anacapa Island on the left and Santa Cruz Island on the right.
The third mission of the day is Santa Inés in Solvang, California.
A very small chapel indeed with the most modest altar we’ve seen yet.
When in Solvang, one must visit Solvang proper and take in some Danish-inspired architecture and some Aebleskivers which are a kind of apple donuts drizzled with raspberry syrup.
And finally, number four of the day and sixth of the trip is Mission La Purísima Concepción in Lompoc, California. This historic outpost is now known as La Purísima Mission State Historic Park and is managed by the state.
This is a beautiful facility and has capped our mission to see missions with a jewel. If we were easily entertained (which we are NOT), we would have opted to stay home and watch TV (if we watched TV), but instead, we have driven about 850 miles this weekend to visit another part of California’s history as seen through the eyes of the Spaniards intent on colonizing this part of the North American continent at a time when there was no concern for indigenous peoples’ beliefs.
Right or wrong (mostly wrong), history is what it is and is unchangeable. That doesn’t diminish our curiosity to see where our ancestors lived, how they did so, and to see the impact of their actions. While it is easy to visit California and see the conquerors’ history and rewards, it is not so easy to know the native people’s perspective, sadly.
Thick adobe walls and old wood can make for some of the coziest feeling places. Should we ever own a home we decide to build, there will have to be a room for me that has some of these qualities for my creative explorations.
Fortunately, I won’t be looking to this for inspiration for my kitchen, though I do love the colors. Hmm, the more I think about it, if I could have this with a few modern conveniences hidden within I’d go for it.
And then, if all that was our home, Caroline and I would probably look like these two snuggling and comfy-looking pigs in the afternoon sun. These may be the two most beautiful pigs I will see in my lifetime.
You just knew that the day had to include a selfie of us.
