The Great Western Pilgrimage - Part Five (Southern Border Completion!)

We had a later start this day thanks to the hour we would gain passing from Mountain to Pacific time. It's nice to not have to rush out of a place...especially when that means a slow breakfast and time to pack and plan for the miles to come.

There were miles to come on this day. We left Hurricane, Utah and our next stop would be Las Vegas, Nevada. Yes, we took them to Vegas. Yes, we did it in our style. Now, the kids say, "We went to Las Vegas. We went to Mass. We saw Circus Circus and it was creepy." I'm not sure about that last part. I think the 70's motif threw them a bit. We only drove past. I didn't think it would be that big a memory.

It was interesting to attend Mass amidst all the vice that is Las Vegas. Never having been there and not expecting much, my expectations were met. All the glitz and glamour weren't that exciting to me (have we met?)...I was more interested in the layout of the Guardian Angel Cathedral (don't look up Las Vegas Basilica...it's a tattoo shop!). They had a full drum set. They also had a devout 30+ people who took their lunch hour to gather for the Eucharist, rosary, and Stations. Pretty nice. We only managed the Mass part...many miles before we sleep.

Stand in front of the Cathedral and look across the street ;0)

Guardian Angel seems an appropriate name

Pretty in a modern/loud kind of way

They even had 4 triangles!

and a really beautiful Marian side altar

Back on Route 15, we headed southwest, past my new favorite town of ZZYZX, and had a delayed realization that, when we crossed into California, we had completed our journey of the entire southern border of the Continental United States! No, not all this trip. When you have some time, start HERE in Texas and work your way East to Florida.

Our landing zone was San Bernadino but we had already been traveling for so long and we were excited to be in California to start seeing the Missions and we were really hungry so the travel agent (!) just happened to realize that the Mission Basilica de San Diego Alcala  happened to have a fish fry just that evening! We arrived, had our meal, and enjoyed our first glimpse of our first Mission! Actually, it was St. Junipero Serra's first Mission as well. Great place to begin!

so beautiful, even in the dark!

The Mission tour will wait, just as it did that night. For now, some information from their website:

San Diego de Alcalá, the first of the twenty-one great California Missions, marks the birthplace of Christianity in the west coast of the United States. It is California's first Mission Church. This remarkable and significant historical shrine provides an understanding and appreciation of the beginning of Catholicism in this corner of the world, so remote from the Mother Country of Spain and yet so similar.

Our pilgrimage had begun in earnest! Tomorrow we would begin to tour the buildings and grounds on which a great Saint had sewn the seeds of Catholicism on the Western coast of our nation in 1769.

We are blessed.