San Luis Obispo Mission, SLO, California December 2010

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Denise in front of SLO Mission

The San Luis Obispo Mission in it’s heyday was not the smallest mission, but so far it has been the smallest mission that we have visited. Built in 1772, it is a very interesting mission in that the main chapel has a L shape to it. Two congregations could be sharing the same service and never have to look at each other. Like all missions it originally would have had lots of land but now that it the center of San Luis Obispo it is kind of more like a small park to the city. There is no cost for entry but there is a box that suggests a $4 donation when you enter the museum. In the museum you will see period clothing and various historical artifacts. There were not many visitors when we were there. Most of the citizens of San Luis Obispo were far too interested in visiting Santa Claus or riding the carousel. AJ got to ride the carousel thanks to Nana.

If you got some extra cash I suggest going to the Splash Cafe.

While we were at San Luis Obispo we visited the Splash Cafe. I found it using my urbanspoon and picked it because it had good reviews. This place was definately a locals hangout, which means it was good and well priced. The speciality of the house is definately the clam chowder. It was very good, a very creamy white sauce. If you can handle more food after your lunch they have a great bakery on site.

Heart Castle: Tour 3 San Simeon, California December 2010

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One of the main events on our Christmas vacation was a trip to visit Hearst Castle. This is not the first time we have visited Hearst Castle. We have been there many times, but if you have been there once before you soon find out you need many different visits to fully appreciate this place. Hearst Castle is a State Historical park and is open everyday but Christmas. There are 4 different tours that cost $24 each. If it is your first time to Hearst Castle your best bet is Tour 1, also known as the Experience Tour. This tour will take you through the main greeting hall of Casa Grande, one of the guest houses, both pools, and includes an imax presentation of Hearst castle. In our case we took tour 3, which is known as the New and Old Tour. In our tour we explored the first building to be built which was a guest house. The interesting thing about the guest houses is that there is no kitchens in any of the guest houses. One of William Randolphs main rules is that everyone was to always eat dinner in the dinning hall. After going through the guest house we went through the north wing of the castle. This wing contained additional guest suites and a new wing for William Hearst and his mistress Marion Davies.

Inside the guesthouse the ceiling detail is amazing. Roll your mouse over the picture to see one of the faces.

One of the things I enjoyed about touring Hearst Castle was the attention to detail. It is said that with the help of his architect Julian Morgan, William Hearst oversaw all the details at the castle. What is also interesting is that unlike other rich residents where art is kind of just spotlighted, the art at this place is literally built in to everything that you see.
In addition to enjoying the castle itself I also enjoyed the ride up and down the mountain. If you are careful and look carefully you can still see some of the descendants of the original herds that were raised by Hearst on this land.
Although the castle is a state park the land is not. In fact the Hearst family still has a working ranch on site. In the visitor center you can buy Hearst ranch beef at the visitor center, but at $45 per steak we decided it was too expensive for our taste.

La Purisima Mission, Lompoc, California 2010

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The 11th mission in the series, La Purisima Mission is interesting in that is no longer owned or operated by the Catholic Church. Even though all the missions were deeded back to the Catholic church in 1865 by President Lincoln the Catholic church did not take back this mission. My guess is this was because the mission is in a very remote location.

La Purisima Mission Front View

The configuration of the mission is different. All the buildings are in a straight line. Hence the La Purisima mission is known as the “Linear Mission” (most missions were built in squares). It is also known as the “Overflow Mission” as it was built to complement the overflow crowds at the Santa Barbara Mission.

Steer Cow at La Purisima

Also unique to this mission is that it still has a working ranch and shows what a complete mission would of looked like. When you go there you will see horses, lambs, and steer. You will also see all the gardens. It is very interesting in it’s setup because you can explore all you want.

Cemetery Tower View La Purisima

In the category of weird stories it should be noted that the mission is very empty. It is like everyone just walked away and left all the doors open. The cemetery is strange in that it is now devoid of markers. Some say that the spirits of those that were buried there are angry over this and now haunt the place. I personally didn’t see any spirits there, but other who have visited say they have.
Price of admission is $6 per car and it is open everyday but Christmas 9am-5pm.

Main Chapel

John inside the Father’s Quarters at La Purisima Mission

Santa Barbara Mission, Santa Barbara, California December 2010

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The Santa Barbara Mission is the 10th mission in the California series and is known as the “Queen of the Missions”. This mission is probably the most active Catholic missions out of all of the missions I have visited so far. The grounds not only house the mission but also has a covent, a retreat, and a school. Immaculately kept the grounds a beautiful and have many different types of roses. When visiting the mission I really thought the aqueducts were very interesting. Water is of course what makes life possible so it is always interesting to see how early settlers dealt with this issue. In this case the long aqueducts lead to big fountains at the front of the mission. Big wash basins known as lavanderias lead from the fountains for washing clothes.

AJ and Denise at SB Fountain

The grounds are immaculately kepts and are free to tour. If you want to go inside the mission it will cost you $5 per person. They are open most days M-F 9AM-5PM.

Santa Barbara Mission Altar

 

Family at Santa Barbara Garden

Santa Barbara, California December 2010

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This is a view of the pier at SB. I could of photoshopped the homeless guy, but that would be like lying. There are lots of homeless people at SB.

With it’s mediterranean climate Santa Barbara is an ideal place to go when you want to escape the winter cold. With that in mind we went there on Christmas Eve. We visited Santa Barbara to see the mission, but we knew there was much more to see.

AJ and I at the Wharf Pier. If it seems like I am grabbing AJ hard it is because I am. There is no railing at the end of the pier.Knowing that there was more to see we drove all the way down state street right into the water. Really, you can drive right on to the pier (costs $2.50 per hour, first three hours free with validation).My mom treated us to the SB Red Trolley tour.

My mom treated us to the Santa Barbara Red Trolley Tour. It cost most people $19 and has several stops in Santa Barbara. I say it costs most people $19, but my mom has no fear in talking in a discount. If the trolley tour is too expensive you can always ride the shuttle around downtown for .25 cents.

Ward Adult Christmas Party 2010

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This post is an experiment from my phone…Last night was the our church’s ward adult Christmas party. It was fun, I really enjoyed the prime rib (Denise doesn’t like red meat so we never have it at home). Denise did a great job decorating one of the tables. Bet you can’t guess the theme of our table. One of our Bishopric members really likes Christmas trees, there was trees all over the place. In the middle of the room was a big tree and we all brought “white elephant” gifts (unknown surprise gifts wrapped). Denise got legos and chocolates, I got a bunch of reeses pieces. It takes a lot of effort by a lot of people to pull it off, but it is such a great event.

Mission Inn Christmas Lights 2010, Riverside, CA

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Look! It’s a national landmark!! See the sign tells you so! You must go, go now and spend lots of money on sales taxable items!
Just kidding, except for the part about the Mission Inn being a national landmark. Not sure exactly why it is a national landmark, but it is (really). The reason why I am not sure is because the Mission Inn is not really a mission, never was, never has been. It wasn’t even always an inn, it used to be a boarding house, then again that was way back in 1876. In 1902 Frank Miller changed the name to the Mission Inn and it has apparently been historical ever since (amazing what a name change can do!)
Most people would call the architecture of the Mission Inn as Mission/Spanish Revival, but I like to think of it more as late Winchester House Style. The place is pretty interesting, there are no blueprints to the place and not even the owners know how many rooms are in, and as if to fit the mystery, the City of Riverside starting in November decorates it with a seemingly endless amount of lights for the Christmas season.
This is where we come in. As you probably read in my earlier post we recently went camping at Jurupa Valley Regional Park. When we got there we quickly set up camp, we cooked dinner, and then we discovered something. We discovered that without WIFI we get really bored in the dark. Fortunately, we knew that in Riverside they have a citywide WIFI network, and it’s free!! Well, sort of free, they do have ads… Anyhow, we went to downtown Riverside and to our amazement parking was really bad. Now, if it was during regular business hours, we would of expected this of downtown Riverside, but at 8PM this was rather suspicious.

Then it dawned on us (yes, just light a little light bulb going off), we were there for the Festival of Lights (the day they turn on all the lights). It was crowded, I don’t recommend you go on the day they turn on the lights. Although if you go any other day, and especially on weekends, you can have yourself a pretty good time looking at all those lights.

In addition to the lights there are other things you can do such as ice skating ($13 dollars per hour), go on a carriage ride (about $10), take a picture with Santa (about another $10 bucks), eat freshly baked treats (let’s just say it isn’t free), or look at real reindeer (their free, but they have a tendency to stare at your wallet).

The lights are very fun to look at, and even though we picked the worse day to go (any day other than the lighting ceremony is a good day), it was still a fun thing to do. The lights stay on until January 2nd. Hope you get a chance to see them.

Rancho Jurupa Regional Park, Riverside, CA

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Ok, so you want to be the outdoor type of person, but you know you couldn’t put two twigs together to save your live. Have no fear! Rancho Jurupa is here!!
Ok, that was cheesy, but I will say that if you want the easiest camping experience ever, than Rancho Jurupa Regional Park is a good choice. First of all it is cheap, only $20 per night for a site that has electricity and water. Second, it is really easy to get to, it’s basically on the outskirts of downtown Riverside. Third, it’s very clean, you camp on clean cut grass and you have hot showers (that cost 50 cents per 3 minutes).

Besides being clean there are lots of fun things to do. The main attraction is probably walking along the Santa Ana River trail (if you want you can hike it all the way to the beach), but there is many other things to do. They have a miniature golf course (costs $5 per round), a water park, a fishing pond, two playgrounds, and several equestrian trails.

Not exactly roughing it, with our tent we were definitely in the minority (the majority being 5th wheels), but still a lot of fun.
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Oh, and if your curious. AJ really likes chocolate milk, but you have to say “CHOCIT MELK!!!”