Into the third and final week of the trip, and the weather
is still perfect! And breakfast was perfectly delicious, too, as it was a
variety (smorgasbord?) of pastries from Solvang.
Before we packed out of the campground this morning, I took
a few minutes to explore. There were a
lot of birds and other small critters around that didn’t mind me taking their
picture (but no friendly deer like at San Antonio reservoir). The best part was the oak tree, which was
full of noisy birds, and over which practically every inch of the surface was
covered with stored acorns from the woodpeckers (take a look at the bark where
this woodpecker is standing and you’ll see how the surface is peppered with
acorns in holes).
We crossed over the Santa Barbara mountains, stopping along
the way to see the Chumash cave paintings.
Some of the paintings are estimated to be over 2000 years old! The road
to get up to the paintings was incredibly windy, very very steep, narrow, and
surprisingly full of driveways for housing developments. We took the sag wagon up, which was a good
idea because it was a challenge even to get the truck and trailer up the road.
But it was worth the struggle to see the paintings!
Then down to Santa Barbara to see the mission. Mission Santa Barbara is called the Queen of
the Missions, and it is very nice. The main
complex (without the surrounding agricultural land) is pretty much the same as
it was in 1820 when it was built. Its
matching bell towers are a unique feature for the missions (others have a
single bell tower or no bell tower).
This was the busiest mission we’ve seen so far, pretty much
packed with tourists and school groups.
It was quite a challenge to take photos without anyone else in
them!
Like the other missions, the self guided tour went through
the courtyard, the chapel, the cemetery, and the museum. The museum was in one wing of the complex,
and some of the exhibits were of how the rooms would have looked. They also had a lot more photos and diagrams
of how the mission looked over the years since it was built. Mission Santa Barbara was the depository for
all the other missions’ records and documents, and its thanks to them that
there is so much information still available about the missions.
One of my favorite parts of the museum was a padre’s shoe,
possibly the only one to have survived since the early mission days. They were built tall with a cut out in the
middle of the sole so it would flex easier; these were considered comfy walking
shoes.
After the mission we cruised through Santa Barbara and along
to coast to our campground at Faria Beach, just north of Ventura. Part of the ride was especially exciting, as
the bike trail ran alongside the 101 freeway.
Yikes.
Today’s route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2860978
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