Mission Hunting Resumed

After a two year hiatus, we are back on the trail of the historic Spanish Missions of California.  We had completed visits to 13 of the 21 missions and today we visited numbers 14 and 15.  After spending the weekend with Ellen in Sacramento, we drove down to the Monterey Peninsula to pick up where we left off.  San Juan Bautista is the only mission that adjoins a section of the original El Camino Real.  They old trail by the rest of them has been replaced by paved road or plowed up into fields.  This mission sits in a quaint small town in an agricultural valley.  Many old buildings still comprise the town's streets, but it hasn't sold its soul to tourism.  The other mission we visited was one we have often peaked at but never gone in.  San Carlos Borromeo Carmelo sits on the outskirts of the swanky town of Carmel by the Sea.  This mission is beautifully restored and is a functioning parish church.  We unfortunately had to deal with rain and cold weather which put a damper on the enjoyment of the mission gardens.  We are spending the night at a cozy motel in Pacific Grove just blocks from lighthouse point.