San Miguel / Monterey, Part 1

Today, we got back in the car and continued to head north on Hwy 101 through some of the most beautiful scenery in California. There are numerous Missions along our route, Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, Mission San Antonio de Padua, Mission Nuestra Senora de la Soledad to name a few. We will stop at one of my favorites, Mission San Miguel Archangel. I used to stop here every summer during the 90's as I rode my bike along this route in the California AIDS Rides from San Francisco to LA. The chapel being a peaceful place to reflect on life, loss, and hope, became a place I looked forward to being in, and still do.
San Miguel is located just north of Paso Robles, one of California's premier wine regions.
As you exit the highway into the tiny town of San Miguel, The first thing you see is the brick and adobe bell tower.

A brief history of Mission San Miguel Arcangel

On July 25, 1797, Padre Presidente Fermin Francisco de Lasuen founded the mission and celebrated the first mass. A simple church structure was built only to be partially destroyed by fire in 1806. Plans for a new church were drawn and adobe blocks were constructed. For almost 10 years these blocks baked in the hot sun. Construction on the new church, using these almost concrete-like blocks was started around 1816 and completed in 1818. The frescoes on the walls were completed in 1821. The artist was Don Esteban Munras from Monterey. Members of the Salinan Tribe completed the coloring of the frescoes under his direction. The church was damaged by the San Simeon earthquake of 2003. Over the past several years there has been significant retrofitting and subtle wall mural conservation done in the church.

The inside of the chapel is very simple and elegant.

The original paintings hanging on the walls are - The Saints Of The Missions - all painted in the late 1700's. This is one of the finest collections of art found in all of the California missions today.

A closer look at the altar

-In the center, above the statue of St. Michael, the patron saint of the church - The Eye Of God is shown in clouds representing heaven with divine rays. This is the largest and most beautiful God's Eye in any of the California missions.The All-Seeing Eye Of God reminded the Indians they now had a God who was watching them and watching over them.

-The statue on the left is St. Francis who stands with one foot on a skull - he welcomes death and eternal life. 

- The statue on the right is St. Mary, the Blessed Mother

- The fresco painting on the walls is spectacular! 

The Virgin de Guadalupe prayer candle altar

 Take note how the columns on each side of The Virgin are painted on the wall. The outside lines are thinner than those in the middle giving a round look to the columns. Pretty cool!

The Wall Pulpit

The wall pulpit is high on the wall so all can see the padre and hear his voice carried over to all the people in the church. The crown, representing God, has a wooden bottom that amplifies the padre's voice as a "sounding board". Christ as a child is held by the Blessed Mother and the dove hanging from the crown represents the Holy Spirit.

I have been in this chapel during a service and it is breathtaking to hear the singing and to hear the padre speak. The acoustics are amazing.

Wow! Just, WOW!

I left a prayer request in the prayer request book at the entrance to the chapel.

I asked the padre to pray for our country.  I figured we need all the help we can get at this very moment in our history.

 I found these Sister Folk in the mission gift shop and asked them to pray for our country too! They all smiled at me which I took as a 'yes we will'!

After our mission stop, we continued driving north through the coastal range and along the Salinas River. We crossed the Salinas Valley where virtually all of our fruits and vegetables come from during the spring/summer/fall months. We haven't seen the hills around here this green in years........we need to be thankful for all of this bloody rain :o)

 

As you drive along 101 going into Salinas, there are all of these very large cut-out farm worker images in the fields painted by the artist John Cerney. They are only seen going along hwy 101 (not Interstate 5). So if you are driving in the north/south directions you must be on 101 to see them.  After seeing them you will have to agree that these farm workers are outstanding in their field! :o)

The figures measuring up to 18 feet tall, are made from varnished plywood and have been at this location along 101 since 1995.

This is a photo of the artist, John Cerney, standing next to an 18 ft. tall cut-out. I found this photo on the Internet so you can understand the scale. They literally stop you when driving down the highway. Go here for more on John Cerney and these great works of art: http://archives.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/the-land-of-giants-an-artists-roadside-attractions-call-attention-to-history/Content?oid=2826905

As we made our way to Monterey we started to wonder if we would ever get there as we kept making so many stops. We finally arrived at our dear friends Nina and Kim's place by late afternoon. We are so exited we will get to spend the next few days with them.

Of course we arrived to the smell of something extremely delicious in the oven.

Kim had whipped up this outstanding apple gallette for us to have for dessert tonight....and breakfast tomorrow morning.........and the next day..........and the next day......it was HUGE!
Yes, those are layers and layers of sliced assorted apples.

And then there were the orange trees in the yard (also lemons, limes, etc). More heaven for us. We just cannot grow these sorts of things in the mid-west. Sigh!

 

 Oh, and then there is the bread. Nina is a master bread maker. Every time we visit there is some sort of new crusty wonder to ingest, with great pleasure I might add.

These are sourdough loaves. You can imagine the crunch of the crust by just looking at them. Add butter and you are in HEAVEN!

Something from the WACKY file:

Isn't this a nice tree? Looks like a sugar pine or sequoia to me. We took a walk around the neighborhood and found this tree that was taller and just different from most of the other live oaks, pines and manzanita. Upon closer inspection, we realized that the tree is actually a communications tower. They dress these towers up like this so they are not such an eye sore. Brilliant idea! This should be the standard nation wide. We will see if we can find more of these along the west coast as we go north through Oregon and Washington. 

 

Much more coming from the Monterey area. Stay tuned.........the rugged coast is next.