Mission Travelogue: Mission San Juan Bautista

I was out for a drive on a sunny weekend morning with a break between these ferocious storms California has been seeing when I decided to take a hopefully slight detour to visit Mission San Juan Batista.

My original destination was the amazing Monarch Sanctuary in Pacific Grove, California and, of course, the Pacific Ocean.  Can't be that close to the ocean and not spend some time there!

Anyhoo, as I was driving down Highway 101 I saw the sign for the mission pointing down Highway 156 East, so I decided to take it.  It has been awhile since I had a mission trip!

To see my other Mission adventure travelogues, click on the links below:

San Jose Mission (Plus San Jose Sharks hockey & cemeteries!)

San Gabriel Mission in SoCal (and Sights of SoCal!)

Mission San Rafael Arcangel (And toilets on highways!)

The AMAZING Santa Barbara Mission

It's SO AMAZING it needs two posts! Santa Barbara Mission and Rose Garden

And now, to the current mission travelogue, the equally amazing and possibly even more historic than any of the others:  Mission San Juan Bautista!

In the next three photos, you will see a pretty unique statue.  In researching, I found that many sites report this statue as being of a Native American, which is reasonable because it is mostly naked and also because this mission once housed a large population of Native Americans of the Ohlone and Yokuts tribes. 

There are some sites which report this as being a statue of John the Baptist, for whom the mission and town surrounding it were named - En español, Juan el Bautista.

Although I haven't found any definitive statements on the statue, I think the bible verses that are engraved into the base of the statue do indicate that it is John the Baptist as three of the four refer directly to him. 

Luke 1: 78-79
Because of the tender mercy of our God, with which Sunrise from on high will visit us,
To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.

Matthew 3: 1-3

Now in those days, John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand." 

For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight."

John 1: 6-9

There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John.  He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.  He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.  There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

Mark 1: 4-5

John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. 

This next photo is really cool.  

I was standing on the actual El Camino Real AND the San Andreas Fault when I took it!  

Turns out, the old "King's Highway" is still in it's natural form right beside the mission.  The mission actually sits on a low plateau, created by the San Andreas Fault, and the road is still used (mostly by joggers and walkers).  I walked a short way along it, but I want to go back and walk further.   

The next photo shows the obligatory statue of Father Junipero Serra along with the outside entrance and sign to the cemetery.  This gate is now locked and the only way to view the cemetery is to go through the church.

The ghost of Father Junipero Serra was watching me...

This is the view of the cemetery from the front gate.  I assume by the chain that this gate is opened sometimes.

I asked if it was okay to go inside and someone said "Sure!" so I did.  But, as I was walking around looking at the alters, suddenly a priest stood up and began speaking. He then called a couple to the front and began a wedding service!  

Yes, I am a wedding crasher!  But I didn't crash the reception.  Haha!

As I previously mentioned, the only way into the cemetery when I visited was through a door inside the church.  But it, too, was chained so that you could only walk out about 5 feet.  The cemetery looks out over the Camino Real and the San Benito River flood plain.

There are at least 30 ancient olive trees shading the cemetery. 

Among the 4,000 Native Americans buried here is Ascension Solorsano, the last full-blood Mutsun Indian.  She was a historian and worked to preserve the language and stories of her people.  This is a really fascinating story of an opera made about her.

The entire church is very brightly colored in keeping with the Native communities who lived and worked there.

Like most missions, there is beauty outside as well.  Mission San Juan Bautista has a very large, beautiful garden filled with cacti and statuary.

This bust is of the founding Friar Fermin Lasuen.

San Juan Bautista has a history of feral chickens. I found this one in the mission garden. 

The museum was very comprehensive and had a lot of old artifacts, many used at the mission in the 1800s.  These are some vestments from around the world that were used there are one time. 

The mission became known as the "Mission of Music" after Padre Esteban Tapis, who was the president of the Spanish missions in California, retired to San Juan Bautista.

The Spaniards and Native Americans shared a love of music and Father Esteban formed a boys choir that was renowned.  Some of his original music books are in the museum.

Such a beautiful and fascinating mission!  I really need to go back to see some of the things I missed.  

The mission has an original Spanish-era plaza, surrounded by more original 1800s buildings, some of which now comprise the San Juan Bautista Plaza Historic District.  

I snapped some quick photos of the buildings...

...but will definitely include time in my future visit for some serious exploration.  

Maybe I'll see you there!

xoxo

Nikon D3300

Tour the California State Capitol! We did! December 2015

I have lived in the Sacramento area since I was approximately 6 months old, but I had never taken a tour of the historic Capitol.  I've been inside a few times...mostly to meet folks for lunch in the cafeteria when I worked at the East End Complex.  So I dragged my daughter downtown during winter break to check it out.

We stopped in the museum office to sign up for the free tour and were told to meet by the statue of Ronald Reagan.  

While we waited for our tour guide, we wandered around looking at the murals painted on the walls.  We found one to be particularly interesting...  It depicted some very cheeky indigenous folks.  The one on the left seems to have something special on his...errr...mind.  haha!   

Our tour guide gave a brief explanation of the room and murals, but didn't touch that one!  Unlike the fellow who couldn't resist touching!

Most of the building can be seen by anyone walking through.  

There were two rooms that I particularly wanted to see.  The Assembly and the Senate.  To be fair you can also see these rooms when the legislature is in session, but you can't take pictures and you have to be quiet.  That's no fun. 

I loved the Assembly room.  It was beautifully appointed in green and gold.  

Both rooms have a large painting holding pride of place. 

The back of each room has gorgeous columns and curtains.  This is our tour group. 

Now on to the Senate.  Much darker vibe with claret red furnishings to go with the dark wood desks.  

Next we moved on to the beautiful rotunda under the dome.  The bottom floor is a classic checkerboard with "Columbus' Last Appeal to Isabella" centered to greet visitors.  

An interesting tradition at the Capitol is that at the end of the Legislature, the staffers, lobbyists, and whomever else wants to have some fun line the railing of the 2nd floor rotunda and try to lob pennies into Queen Isabella's crown.  I've no idea if the winner gets a prize, but it sounds like a good time. 

This started in the 1940s.  The statue was installed in 1883 so I guess the Queen did have a few peaceful years. 

The dome and walls under it are stunning.  

California Grizzly Bears and the goddess Minerva are prominent in the decor throughout the Capitol. 

This is NOT a California Grizzly.  This is a BROWN bear that the Governator commissioned and had placed outside his office.  Apparently he didn't know that the State bear was a California Grizzly. It's called "Google" Ah-nold.  He also had his name PERMANENTLY inscribed above the door.  Even though the office of Governor is NOT permanent.  

Personally I think old Arnold has more then a few screws loose.  Or perhaps missing altogether.  Luckily, they were able to remove his name (although you can still faintly see it). But the bear was cute so they let her stay.

The last two photos are not inside the Capitol, but they were a couple things I didn't get a good photo of on my last visit.  So I'm putting them here.

The first is the Sisters of Mercy statue outside of the current main entrance. 

And the next is the delightful flower of the Abutilon, or Flowering Maple.

I love flowers.  :-) 

xoxo