Yes, it is already a pretty long trip but, good news for the non-Mission types among you - really cool critters half-way through today!
#1 daughter, God bless her...she's not exactly a morning person...had science from 6 to 7 AM and then we headed on our way. First stop,
Mission San Miguel Arcangel. We have a dear friend named Michael and we pray to this particular Saint pretty much every day...this was a long-awaited visit.
This mission was #16 of 21, again not founded by St. Serra, but pretty amazing even so. The original intent was to cover the territory between Mission San Louis Obispo and Mission San Antonio and minister to the Salinan people. The murals on the walls of the church are originals from the early 1800's!
 |
| The museum in this Mission was amazing...so much to learn! |
 |
| Walking from building to building was beautiful! |
 |
| a cactus with blooms! |
 |
| The all-seeing eye of God. I love that. |
 |
| The history in this place was amazing...especially for the musicians |
 |
| The vestments were pretty incredible as well. A priest wore these to say Mass 200+ years ago! The same Mass as today! (except the black one - they used to use that for Good Friday but apparently no more) |
 |
| A Salinan Blessed Mother |
 |
| If I haven't mentioned it, the patron (name) Saint of the Mission is always found above (or very close to) the tabernacle |
 |
| The baptized Salinan people were buried just outside the Mission. Some had both Native American and Christian names. It was beautiful. |
 |
| The devil with St. Michael is so different, depending on the artist, but always really, really ugly. |
We went back to the house so that #1 could attend her literature class and we could grab some lunch. Then we took a short drive up the road to see some of the most amazing creatures God ever thought to create.
 |
| Yes! Elephant Seals!!! Many, many, many of them! |
 |
| The seals come ashore to give birth in January and they are gone by late March. How blessed we were to see the mamas and babies and the "big boys" as G called the dads. Understatement. Think SUV. |
 |
| Yes, 5,000 lbs! Although, the guide told us by Feb they have usually lost several hundred to even a thousand pounds from lying on the beach not eating much. |
 |
| There is a big boy. Huge. Just amazing. And that nose. When they breathe, it sort of honks/flutters/does this odd thing. Look it up on youtube or go see them yourself. Try to find one of the males fighting too. It's pretty scary - I was glad we were far enough away to see but not be involved in the fracas. |
 |
| Bye-bye, big boy |
 |
| Home again for dinner - leftover pasta and sausage frittata. Yum. I like having a house to do laundry on trips but I mainly like it so that I can actually cook. So much better than a restaurant. |
Then, because we weren't sure when we might see the Pacific ocean again, we found time for just.one.more dip. If you can spend the day at a Mission, watching mammoth-sized seals, and looking out over the expanse of the sea and not see/feel/experience God...well, I think you need to re-center a bit. This day, especially, was a great example to the kids of how to see Him everywhere. He is everywhere. He is everything. How blessed we all are to have a Father who loves us so.
No comments:
Post a Comment