Today we had a cheat-day for biking, although that was not
originally the intention, but it’s a good thing we did!
After enjoying some of the goodies from La Plaza bakery for
breakfast, and making good use of the laundry facilities at the campground, we
opted to drive as far as the mission.
This was originally because we were still tired from yesterday and
wanted to skip the hill (yes, we were feeling a bit lazy this morning), and because right
after the hill was a military checkpoint that we were not sure if we would be
allowed to bike through. So I thought
for the purposes of research we would drive there and inquire about bike
policy.
The reason we had to drive through a military check point is
because Mission San Antonio de Padua is in the middle of Fort Hunter
Liggitt. The volunteer at the mission
told us that this scares or confuses a lot of people, so between that and it
not being on a major thoroughfare anymore it is the least visited mission in
the chain. So the lesson is: if you are visiting
Mission San Antonio, know in advance that you will be passing through a check
point. This does not mean you are lost!
And yes, you are allowed to enter the military base to visit the mission!
Though I had been warned that we’d have to present
identification and possibly have the vehicle searched to enter the base, when
we went through the check point there was no one stationed there was a big
welcome sign for visitors. So, we drove
right in. For future reference, the
mission volunteer gave me a better phone number to ask the base headquarters
about biking regulations. But for today, we just drove through to save the
trouble of dealing with trying to reach someone.
Mission San Antonio is my new favorite. Although not as gorgeous as Carmel, it is
more original and has the most total acreage still intact with the main mission
complex. It is called “the mission that
time forgot” and for good reason. It was
abandoned after the missions were secularized, and eventually reclaimed by the
church. In the meantime, unlike other
missions in more urban settings, it was unused even by local ranchers.
The Hearst family later bought it as part of their huge ranch, and built their own mission-style “hacienda” about a half mile south of the mission complex. But they too left the mission ruins alone. They then sold the property to the Army for the Fort Hunter Liggitt training area, and the army also had no use for it and left it alone. Being on a military base protected it from being developed (or pillaged), so when it was eventually restored as a historic site and sometimes-church, it was pretty much intact except for normal decay.
The Hearst family later bought it as part of their huge ranch, and built their own mission-style “hacienda” about a half mile south of the mission complex. But they too left the mission ruins alone. They then sold the property to the Army for the Fort Hunter Liggitt training area, and the army also had no use for it and left it alone. Being on a military base protected it from being developed (or pillaged), so when it was eventually restored as a historic site and sometimes-church, it was pretty much intact except for normal decay.
The mission is still in the process of being restored (and
some people were working on one wing while we were there) but a large section
of it is fully restored for touring, including the padres quarters, the chapel,
the courtyard, and some other wings of the main complex. The padres’ rooms can actually be rented
nightly (and for a very reasonable cost!).
I would have loved to do that, but haven’t yet figured out how to
arrange the route to make a stopover there a logical choice. (The Hearst Hacienda is also a good
historical hotel).
For the unrestored areas, there is still a lot to see,
including an Indian cemetery (currently being restored), an amazing water
operated grist mill (partially restored), and irrigation system (unrestored,
but still the best example of mission irrigation in the state – you can still
see quite a bit of the system including wells, ditches and reservoirs), a
threshing floor, a tannery, and other similar sites.
Inside the mission museum, you can walk through the wine
cellar and wine pressing room (with original wine vat), which is unique among
the missions. The museum was small, but
had an interesting collection of Indian baskets and pottery, as well as a
barbed wire display that I found fascinating (weird, yes, but fascinating..
where else can you see over a dozen types of barbed wire from the 1800’s? and
they were all so different!).
After the mission, still not sure if we could bike through
the base, we rode the sag wagon to the gate.
Then, seeing how late it was (we spent a lot of time at this mission!),
we thought we’d just get a ride the last few miles to the campground. And it was a good thing we did, too! Because when we got there, we found out that
it was closed. Shame on me for not
double checking more timely to our trip… though I had checked back in late
September, and there hadn’t been any notices then.
We were supposed to have camped in the North Shore
campground of Lake San Antonio, but the sign at the gate said we had to go to
the South Shore, which was at least a 30 mile detour. Couldn’t have done that by bike, especially
since it was already so late in the day!
And since we had been driven there, it was still early enough in the day
that we could drive around the lake to the south shore before it got dark. Whew!
The reason for the closure, I have now learned, is that the
lake is so low that they’ve had to close it down for boats. And apparently they assume that anyone
camping on the North Shore is going to want to use a boat – or at least enough
that the lack of boaters made it unprofitable to keep the campground open.
And the lake sure is low!
It is practically dry enough to walk across from the north shore to the
south shore (although probably too muddy to do so safely). There is a small
stream running down the middle, but otherwise the huge reservoir is bone
dry. It is quite a sight. Good thing I wasn’t planning on swimming
here!
This kind of screws up my route for tomorrow (again, good
thing we have a sag wagon for this section!).
I have to figure out where we pick up the route, and we will at least
have to skip the first 10 miles (from the campground to as far as the east
shore), if not further. So, tomorrow’s
ride will be abridged somewhat… but we will be at a hotel for the first time,
which will be a welcome change! I love
camping, but a nice long (untimed, and free) shower and indoor plumbing and
electricity will be a treat.
Today’s route (as far as the north shore): http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2860155
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