San Jose CA
The day started out with a forecast for clouds and rain. So I stayed close to home, rode over to Starbucks on El Camino Real. Sat there working a story then searched for Mission Santa Clara and found that it is about 10 minutes from my coffee. So I mounted up and rode east to Santa Clara University where the Mission is located in the relative center of campus.
The mission was established in 1777 and is the 8th oldest mission in California. The University was found in 1851 by the Society of Jesuits and is the oldest institution of higher learning in California. I never knew any of this and would still be unaware were it not for my riding the SCMA’s California Missions Tour.
Turning into the main entrance of the University I came upon the Security gate and was allowed to enter after explaining to the guard that I was visiting the Mission. Then entrant road leads right up to the massive cross set in a circle in front of the Mission. When I tried to take a photo of the cross with Sophia and me in it everything was darkened out because of the sun. So I downloaded a photo of the Mission for ya’ll to see what it looks like when riding up to the mission. Truley magnificent....wish I had taken this photo. But when you see the photo of me and Sophia below, angled from the sun, you'll understand why I couldn't capture the beauty of the Mission due to the sun blazing directly into the lens.
The SCU Campus is beautiful and perfectly maintained. There was no parking readily available so I parked Sophia in a blind spot where hopefully the campus security would not give me a ticket. Walking up to the mission I noticed, as luck would have it, workmen conducting renovations on the Mission’s entrance. Inside was beautiful, restored, and functioning as a practicing church. I did not find a gift shop close by as is typical of the missions, so I walked around the building but only found academic buildings. When I asked a student about the Gift Shop he suggested that I go to the bookstore as they carried Mission artifacts.
Back out front, I positioned Sophia for a self-photo by placing the camera on top of some hedges. The camera kept slipping down and I was about to give up when bells rang and students started appearing all over the place. They were quickly moving from class to class but the 2nd student I asked to take the photo nicely agreed and made the shot. The young man was from Colorado but I don’t have his name.
From there I rode over to the bookstore but they did not have a stamp and frankly, although they did have a small selection of artifacts, it was a college bookstore and not a mission gift shop. Oh well.
With that I called it a day and headed back to Bro-in-law’s place.
Five missions visited, 16 to go.
C ya mañana,
Gonzo
Twitter: @GonzoCrossUSA
Email: GonzoCrossUSA@gmail.com
Cell: 949-433-0761
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