Week 276-277 - Oceanside, California - 11-27-2011

Hello from Sunny Oceanside, California

Oceanside, California is home to 183,095 people, Camp Pendleton Marine Base, San Luis Rey Mission, San Diego Thankspickling Tournament and Home Depot (according to Oceanside's Google Maps listing). We, of course, came for Home Depot. But since you are familiar with HD, we left those pictures out. The mission makes for a good visit.

The mission is beautiful and looks well restored.

Oops, our bad, the above photos are of the Oceanside Fire Station No. 7. The San Luis Rey Mission is pictured below. This mission was founded in 1798 by padre Fermin Lasuen, and is the 18th of the 21 California missions. It is known as the "King of the Missions" due it its size. At its prime, the buildings and structures covered six acres.

This mission building was the third built on this site being completed in 1811. By 1834 the mission was taken from the padres and no religious services were performed here.

Prior to leaving the mission the padres took the valuable artifacts and paintings and hid them away off-site. In 1846 the U.S. Military Governor of California, Richard Barnes Mason, took charge of the property.

By 1893, the mission was given back to Mexican priests and restoration of the mission began.

The hidden artifacts and paintings were brought back from hiding and once again adorned the halls of the mission.

As much as possible, the original mission has been restored. They never paint over the walls, but only touch up as needed to preserve the original look. Currently, the mission must expend $3,000,000.00 to earthquake proof the sanctuary. Holes must be drilled down each wall and steel rods inserted from roof to foundation.

1) This wall shows where a six foot by ten foot painting once hung. It is being restored and will be brought back. 2) The pulpit hangs on the left wall of the sanctuary. The original building had perfect acoustics and everyone front to back could hear the message from this pulpit. At some time in history, for a unknown reason, the bell-shaped cover was added to the pulpit. This bell destroyed the ability for the padre's voice to be heard throughout the sanctuary. Today messages are amplified from the front of the mission.

(The information about the mission came from Greg, the mission worker on duty, and from Wikipedia.com)

The city of Oceanside has easy access to it's beach and harbor. Parking is available right on the beach.

This pier separates the beach, north and south with surfers enjoying both sides.

Picnic tables and fire pits are available on the beach and Ruby's 50's restaurant is at the end of the pier.

1) The Wyndham Hotel is right at the start of the pier with two walkways to take you out to sea.

2) The lighthouse at the harbor is now very much inland, as the harbor parking lot has been built on the seaward side of the lighthouse.

This fellow was not at all interested in the fishing boat heading out to the ocean.

Ellen and Karen enjoyed the sunshine and water as Pete's explains the meaning of life to Gordon.

And yes, even with all of our travels, we were able to squeeze in time for the San Diego Thankspickling Skills Tournament. We entered five events and got the Bronze medal in each event. Apparently, we feel comfortable "in the middle".

Well, we are home in San Luis Obispo's North County. When we started out in 2006, we really did not have plan. And we still don't, but we do know where we have been! This map shows each year's travels in a different color. While we will be home for December, we still have plenty of photos to bring to you. Our trip from Oceanside to Morro Bay was totally along Highway 1. Our first day we traveled from Oceanside to Malibu, 112 miles at 22.5 miles per hour. That is waaaaaaaaaaaay below our normal average of 37 ! More on that next week.

Have wonderful HolyDays and we see you next week. Love, Pete, Ellen and Mandy.

Photos from Nov 2011