Visiting California Missions

Laura Biche and Jessica Dickinson Goodman and I enjoyed a girls’ road trip on Saturday – part of our long-term “Visit All the California Missions” project. We went to San Antonio de Padua (Jolon), Nuestra Senora de Soledad (Soledad), and San Juan Bautista (in San Juan Bautista) – and ate ice cream twice!   Along the way, we also visited the Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church (near Jolon – on the Fort Hunter Liggett Army Base) and other sights of interest.

An odd thing we noticed: all three missions we visited had what looked like the exact same bronze statue honoring Saint Junipero Serra (who founded 9 of the 21 missions).  It will be interesting to see if the rest of the missions have the same one.

Looking at the Missions Map, we figure we need to go on at least four more road trips to complete our project:

4 Missions: Sonoma, San Francisco North Bay, San Francisco, Fremont Area

• Mission San Francisco Solano, in Sonoma
• Mission San Rafael Arcángel, in San Rafael
• Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores), in San Francisco
• Mission San José, in Fremont

3 Missions: South San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz, Carmel Area

• Mission Santa Clara de Asís, in Santa Clara
• Mission Santa Cruz, in Santa Cruz
• Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, in Carmel

6 Missions: San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura Area

• Mission San Miguel Arcángel, in San Miguel
• Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, in San Luis Obispo
• Mission La Purísima Concepción, northeast of Lompoc
• Mission Santa Inés, in Solvang
• Mission Santa Barbara, in Santa Barbara
• Mission San Buenaventura, in Ventura

5 Missions: Los Angeles and San Diego Area

• Mission San Fernando Rey de España, in Mission Hills (Los Angeles)
• Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, in San Gabriel
• Mission San Juan Capistrano, in San Juan Capistrano
• Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, in Oceanside
• Mission San Diego de Alcalá, in San Diego

Pictures of Mission San Antonio de Padua (Jolon)

Pictures of Mission Nuestra Senora de Soledad (Soledad)

Pictures of Mission San Juan Bautista (in San Juan Bautista)

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Images Copyright 2016 by Katy Dickinson