Those Cali Missions are Gnarly Dude

     A lot has happened in the last few days here in SoCal leaving little time to reflect and write about it. So with time to spare before the next train to who knows where, here are some opinions and observations from the last 72-96 hours.

San Luis Rey Mission/Oceanside, CA

     I know as I've gotten older that I've taken more of shine to history stuff. Frankly, I didn't have anywhere to go but up considering I slept through most my high school history classes. But now as a 50+ guy, my interest in the past, in this case the way past, even surprises me.
     Teresa and I first visited San Luis Rey Francia Mission in Oceanside. It's considered "The King of the Missions." By the way, there are 20-California missions.
     Founded in 1798, did I say founded in 1798, what a walk and adventure back in time. The day we walked through the grounds we practically had San Luis Rey all to ourselves. Long story short: a Franciscan Monk named Padre Fermin Lasuen founded in the mission. Like the others, the Padre and other monks served and ministered to the native people.

San Juan Capistrano Mission/San Juan Capistrano, CA

          Next, we caught the 2:59 Metrolink to San Juan Capistrano. San Luis Rey was founded in 1798. It's a child compared to San Juan founded in 1776 by Padre Junipero Serra.
     Like the other missions, San Juan served and ministered to the native people. In this case, they were the Acjachemen tribe later called the Juanenos because of their life at San Juan.

Serra Church @ San Juan

     That Padre Serra who founded the San Juan mission... The picture to the left is the chapel on the mission grounds named after the Padre, where he actually celebrated Mass. The giant, gold altar was brought over from Spain and added to the Serra Chapel after the 1812 earthquake that destroyed the original 1776(ish) Stone Church in the above photo.

     Padre Serra established nine missions and converted about five thousand Native Americans. His personal motto was "Always Forward. Never Back." Padre Serra died in 1784.

     The California Missions returned to the Mexican government in the 1800s. They sold the properties for practically a pittance. It was President Lincoln who signed a proclamation, only weeks before his death, returning all the missions back to the Catholic church.

Encinitas, CA

      Now to the things I'm pretty sure we wouldn't see anywhere else but SoCal.
     The photo on the right is looking south in Encinitas. We found a pedestrian walk-way to the edge of the cliff and then down to the water. The coastline, at least what we've seen of it, ranges from mildly steep to severe drop-offs like in Encinitas and so many other places. One thing we found out, almost the hard way is, cars don't necessarily have the right-of-way.

High Tide/Carlsbad, CA

     Surfers and bikers are everywhere. We saw surfboards crammed into trucks, sticking out the back of SUVs, on top of cars even strapped to bicycles.
     Another thing, surfers come in all shapes and sizes and surfers are riding the waves pretty much from sun up to "last light" as they call sunset out here.
     By the way, a female surfer is called "Betty" and when a surfer's paddling out they do a "duck dive" when a big wave's about to crash down on them.

Winter Flora & Fauna/Oceanside

     If you're reading this, I'd bet good money that there's not a lot of color outside your front door. But not here! Somebody didn't tell all the trees and flowers out here that January's not exactly a big player in any region's growing season.

     The cactus flower to the right is everywhere here in SoCal. Before they wilt, they remind me of what a peacock looks like with all its feathers standing at attention.

     Something else that's everywhere are the succulents. Homeowners have created vertical succulent gardens growing up their outside walls. One day on TV, the meteorologist gave a "succulent advisory" because so much rain was in the forecast. We bring in our pets and tender vegetation for extreme heat and cold. Out here, they bring in their succulents to avoid too much moisture.😊😏

Only in Cali

     Now to the stuff you'll see only in Cali...We'd heard about the drinking straw issues, but they're really not kidding out here.
     You won't get a straw if you don't ask and in some cases people have personal straws they take with them from place to place.
     The sign on the left is from a little French breakfast/lunch spot we found in Oceanside. If you're a coffee drinker who likes maybe a little cream, milk or sweetner, don't expect the usual, little plastic stirrer. This place offers dried pasta to stir your java.

Watch Out Below

     Here's a good example of the many signs we didn't expect to see. "Park at Your Own Risk." The picture doesn't do it justice but that's a steep cliff.

     The ocean's in the background. Teresa and I got out, read the sign and quickly got back into the car. We parked down the street all the while dodging surfers either skipping work or surfing during their lunch hour.

     That's the thing about this area... There's little city after little city lined all up and down the coast. All of them are right on the water with houses built to the very edge. Sometimes, it's a shack. Sometimes, it's a mansion and cliff or no cliff life on the beach is apparently worth the risk and/or insurance.

     And one more thing, we probably wouldn't see or in this case hear back in west Texas or probably anywhere else outside of Cali. I actually heard a waitress use the word 'gnarly' in a sentence. I've heard referenced many times but mostly as a joke. Not in this case. I think she said, "Dude, it was a gnarly somethingortheother."

Bill Robertson