Day 8: Arroyo Seco to King City

We cruised down to the mission of the day, Mission Soledad, in record time (averaging 10.7mph!), and got there an hour before they opened.  But the grounds were not closed, so we walked around and looked at the garden and the surrounding mission ruins. 

The current mission building is the first stage of an extensive rebuilding process, so the only buildings that are existing right now are the rebuilt small chapel and some adobe rooms used as the museum.  Behind that is the ruins of the larger chapel (including where several graves – which used to be under the chapel floor – are located), and various remnants of buildings for blacksmith shop, neophyte housing, and other such things.  But they are truly ruins – there is little left except some low adobe walls in places, and assorted shingles scattered around.

Soledad is run entirely by donations and volunteer support.  It does not get funding from the state or from the Catholic church like so many of the other missions do, They don’t even charge admission.  If you ever visit, make sure to find the donation box and make a contribution.  It takes a lot of work and money to preserve a mission!

The volunteers at this mission are the friendliest that we’ve met so far.  They are extremely passionate and knowledgeable about their mission, and we talked to them for a very long time about all sorts of aspects of the mission.

Then it was time for lunch (one of my favorite times of the day)! We biked to Greenfield, just down the road from Soledad.  The whole region that we biked through today is rural, with labor-intensive agriculture like cabbage, lettuce, and vineyards.  The people who live in the towns are mostly hispanic farm laborers and their families,  Thus most of the places to eat are Mexican restaurants, taquerias,  etc.  No complaints from me about this, though – I love Mexican food.  And today’s lunch was superb, authentic Mexican food, not Americanized like so many of the restaurants I grew up with.  We ate at La Plaza Bakery and Café, which I highly recommend to anyone who ever drives through Greenfield on the 101: even if it’s not time for a meal, stop and buy some baked goods to take home! The enchiladas, burritors, and flautas are great, and we also have tried the pineapple upside down cake and the custard empanadas.  Besides eating lunch there, we got a little carried away with stuff for breakfast for the next few days, which I am sure will be equally fantastic. 

The ride after lunch was only supposed to take a little over an hour, and be about 12 miles, ending at the campground.  However, this was the first time (and I hope the last!) that my detailed route planning and maps failed me.  Dad’s GPS was of no help either.  We ended up biking about 20 miles from La Plaza to the campground, and by the time we got there we were exhausted.  

For some reason, my map showed the road we were on connecting to another road called Pettitt, which we never found.  Instead it ended at the 101 freeway.  Well, we didn’t want to bike along the freeway, so we went back to the previous cross street, which my map and the GPS both said would go through. But it didn’t.  It ended at a private dirt road that accessed the agricultural fields in that area.  But it was going the right direction, so we took it in hopes that it would cross the street we were looking for.  Eventually the landowner saw us biking along his private road and came over to show us the way out.  Luckily he was friendly and gave us good directions to get back on track.

After a brief rest at the campground, we were ready to eat again.  We went to a small restaurant in downtown King City recommended by one of the mission volunteers, called The Grill.  Apart from the standard burgers, they apparently specialize in Fettuccine Alfredo, because the menu listed 15 different options for Fettuccine Alfredo, from the standard plain or chicken, to Cajun and Curry options, and so many more!  I had the plain, and it was pretty good.  Mom and Dad loved their burger.  I also had an excellent root beer float.

Tonight’s campground is pretty nice.  Its in a city park in King City.  The map shows it being along the 101, but the campground is actually a good distance from the freeway, with a lot of trees in between.  The sites are large and grassy, and it’s not crowded.  Plus there are free hot showers, and coin-op laundry machines!

Today’s (planned) route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2860355