California Missions

During our drive up the Pacific Coast Highway we stopped off at two of the California missions which formed the basis of the Spanish settlements that later became cities like San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The first was Mission San Luis Rey shown in the photo above. It was founded by Dominican friars in 1798 as part of a string of 21 missions the Spanish established to cement its claim to California against the encroachments of Russian (and later American) fur traders. Although Spanish explorers had originally claimed the region as early as 1554, the government in Mexico City had never really done much of anything to settle the area due to it's remoteness from the Capitol. These settlements were intended to correct that situation.

The missions were linked along a road called El Camino Real (The Royal Highway) and were about one day's travel apart...so a traveler on foot or donkey could count on having a place to stay in the evening. The history of the missions, and treatment of the indigenous people by the Spanish, is a decidedly mixed bag historically, but the places they've left behind are evocative of the history of the early "Californios" that settled the region. Make for a nice walking break on a pretty day too.






The photos below are of San Juan Capistrano. Apparently the swallows are coming less and less these days - preferring the more remote and rural areas to the hustle & bustle of the city. Lots of California history here, and as you can see it was an especially pretty place in its own regard.






Capistrano is only about 20 miles from where we're staying in Laguna Beach. Laguna is where I used to come with friends when I was in high school on our early dive trips. Froze our butts off in the cold (58 deg.) waters offshore...the kind of water that would make a Hawaiian scream.

Laguna started out as an artist colony near LA and still retains much of that quirky charm. Rather upscale though, ie it isn't a cheap place to live (or stay). It is a nice central location for exploring some of the local attractions. Disneyland for example of about 20 minutes away...heading there tomorrow.