San Luis Obispo

Sitting right in the middle between San Francisco and Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo is one of the oldest towns in California.  It was founded when Father Sierra built the Mission San Luis Obispo here in 1772.  Today it is a popular and charming little city that is home to The California Polytechnic State University or Cal Poly for short.

Over looking the town, the mission still stands.  I love visiting the old mission churches so we stopped in to take a look around.

The interior looks similar to the Mission San Luis Rey, another mission I shared with you here.

After we left the nave, we took a  stroll through the mission gardens behind the church.

 The Mission Bells.  The one on the left is called the Joy Bell, the one in the middle is the Gloria Bell and the one on the right is called the Sorrow Bell.

From the front of the church you can look down into the town.

 When we had finished touring the mission we wandered down to the San Luis Obispo Creek that runs through the center of town. Usually when we stop through here there is just a small stream of water meandering slowly through the town.  This day, with all the stormy weather it looked more like a river getting ready to overflow it banks.

In fact, it was coming over the walkway in one spot so we had to cross over the bridge to the other side.

 There are actually a number of cute little bridges and sidewalk restaurants along the creek which remind me a bit of the Riverwalk in San Antonio.

I spotted this rock wall on our way back to the car.  It looks like it might have been an old foundation or wall to something.  I wonder what it was?  I am guessing that the walls to the old mission might look like this under the whitewashed clay or stucco.  It's fun to imagine anyway.  Thanks for stopping by.

 

Palm Sunday Crafts

I don't consider myself particularly creative, so how I found myself volunteering to teach the crafts for our Children's program called Journey I don't really know.  In my defense, I thought I was going to be handed all these cute little craft kits that I would just be showing to the kids and helping them put together each week. I learned really quickly that I was on my own.  So here I am two years later still as uncreative as ever.  However, I also discovered that Pinterest was to become my new best friend and I thank God every week for all those wonderfully creative people who are willing to share their creativity with me. The kids all think I am brilliant (if they only knew), and I have had a lot of fun along the way.

So, this last week the kids were learning about the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.  Naturally, that means palm branches and while the older kids got to learn how to make palm crosses (after I took a crash course from youtube, of course), I needed something a little more "kid friendly" for the little ones.  I came across this clever idea, palm branches made from "palms".

 

All we needed for our project was colored paper, paint stirring sticks and some glue.  So, after spending a late afternoon after work die cutting 450 little green hands, I was ready to go.

And here was our finished project all ready to take home.  Didn't they turn out cute? The kids loved them.

May this Palm Sunday be a blessed beginning to a blessed and Holy Week.

Mission San Luis Rey

Last year was one where we did a lot of traveling including 10 days in Southern California reliving memories in the place where we both grew up.  One of the places we stopped to visit was the Mission San Luis Rey.  Founded in 1798, it was one of 21 missions built by the Spaniards all up and down the coast of California. When I was a child, it was a favorite place to bring friends from out of town or to spend a quiet Sunday afternoon wandering the courtyard and grounds. It had probably been at least 20 years since I had been there but everything looked timelessly the same,

The Mission is still a functioning church with a large active congregation as you can see by all the cars parked in the background for the morning service.

You can tell by that azure and deep blue sky that it was a beautiful spring morning.

Built out of adobe these thick walls keep everything cool, even in the warmest weather.

 

 

 Looking out from the mission the brothers could watch for soldiers and travelers riding in from those hills seeking shelter as they moved up the coast from mission to mission.

I have always loved this fountain.  As a child I remember spending many an hour looking for goldfish in its waters.  It was one of my favorite spots.  In fact, it was one of the last places I brought my father to before he passed away.  This day I was standing there with my niece and great-nephew.

 This special courtyard, which you are only allowed to observe through the gate is the home of the oldest pepper tree in California.  You can see it through this old archway.  I have been coming to see this old tree my whole life. 

 

After wandering the grounds we headed inside the sanctuary.  

My brother became Catholic and was married in this church.  I walked down its aisle as a bridesmaid in his wedding, oh, so many years ago.

 The church has been restored and carefully maintained.  Those lovely wooden beams are all original. There is something about these old churches that have an air of sacredness that seems missing from the modern buildings of today with their projectors and multipurpose rooms. 

 We completed our day by driving down the hill to the small Episcopal cemetery in the valley below the mission.  This is where my dad is buried.  My grandparents are also buried here along with one aunt and uncle and numerous friends of my parents from when I was a child.  Unfortunately, I forgot my key and so I could only look through the gate.

And so our day was complete.  It was one filled with gentle memories of happy, peaceful days that, while long passed, still bring feelings of gratitude for the years that were given and are remembered.  A good day.