Who knew our favorite spot in sunny Central Coastal California would be the San Juan Bautista 200-year old Catholic Spanish Mission just three miles down the road from our RV Park ? We expected a tumble-down small adobe building. It was not. It was a lovingly cared-for active Catholic church—it just happens to be very, very old. Mass is held on Saturday and Sunday in English, Spanish, and Latin. The walk through the Mission including the church, gardens, and living quarters is like walking back in time to 1797. The rough hewn dining table in the Mission living quarters was set with old dinnerware painted in the brilliant yellows, oranges, and greens of Spain. The chairs, large and intricately carved, were positioned around the table. In fact, all the furniture was a work of art including cabinets, bookcases, chests. In the background playing softly was a soothing Gregorian chant. Hundreds of candles flickered in the church lit by loyal parishioners. The interior rooms were amazingly cool behind the thick adobe walls.
The little town of San Juan Bautista is practically traffic-free (almost freakishly so for California). Old two-story buildings with peek-a-boo courtyards line up down three blocks of “The Alameda”. We ate at Jardines de San Juan for lunch out in their pretty courtyard. The courtyard includes interesting cacti, olive trees, and chickens! Cute little chickens and roosters roamed around picking up bugs—cackling and crowing. You do not see that everyday.
We found out today that we are on the San Andreas fault. Literally on the San Andreas fault. I guess if our little RV house can withstand traveling down the road, it should hold up during an earthquake. Keep your finger crossed.
Who knew our favorite spot in sunny Central Coastal California would be the San Juan Bautista 200-year old Catholic Spanish Mission just three miles down the road from our RV Park ? We expected a tumble-down small adobe building. It was not. It was a lovingly cared-for active Catholic church—it just happens to be very, very old. Mass is held on Saturday and Sunday in English, Spanish, and Latin. The walk through the Mission including the church, gardens, and living quarters is like walking back in time to 1797. The rough hewn dining table in the Mission living quarters was set with old dinnerware painted in the brilliant yellows, oranges, and greens of Spain. The chairs, large and intricately carved, were positioned around the table. In fact, all the furniture was a work of art including cabinets, bookcases, chests. In the background playing softly was a soothing Gregorian chant. Hundreds of candles flickered in the church lit by loyal parishioners. The interior rooms were amazingly cool behind the thick adobe walls. 
The little town of San Juan Bautista is practically traffic-free (almost freakishly so for California). Old two-story buildings with peek-a-boo courtyards line up down three blocks of “The Alameda”. We ate at Jardines de San Juan for lunch out in their pretty courtyard. The courtyard includes interesting cacti, olive trees, and chickens! Cute little chickens and roosters roamed around picking up bugs—cackling and crowing. You do not see that everyday.
We found out today that we are on the San Andreas fault. Literally on the San Andreas fault. I guess if our little RV house can withstand traveling down the road, it should hold up during an earthquake. Keep your finger crossed.
Your post brought back many memories for me. When we lived in Sacramento, we often stopped for dinner at Jardines de San Juan on our way home from a weekend in Monterey. It is an interesting, "off the beaten path" town, isn't it? Not that hard to imagine Padres and other travelers making their way up from San Diego to Monterey via El Camino Real, no?
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