Happy Valentine’s Day! Curiosity is a Good Thing, San Xavier Mission

I hope this is a wonderful day for you. Whether you get spoiled, do the spoiling (which I think is the responsibility of both) or whether you just treat it like a regular day. My prayer is that it is a great one for all of us.

Look at this young couple in 2010 in our house
We were already dreaming of a southwestern theme!

My day started on Wednesday, Feb. 14^th at 6:40 when I got up. Leaving the sleeping beauties in bed, I opened the shades and tucked a bag in my pocket before heading out the door. The sky was cloudy so there would be no sunrise this morning, not here in this corner of the world anyway. It was so mild out at 57F so just a light hoody and my windbreaker was required.

My Valentine left me a gift to wake up to

You would think he knows me
I finally got my Gambel's Quails!

Soon enough I was eyeballing grapefruit trees laden with fruit. I was foraging for breakfast! Some big fruit was hanging near the top branches, teasing me with their height but others were accessible with a little bit of stretching. I soon found out how thorny the branches are but Nancy had pre-warned me.

I've since this picture picked 8 more oranges from our tree

I walked around the park and picked from the trees on other sites, this is allowed, by the way, otherwise the fruit will go to waste. When I’d walked about a mile and gathered 8 grapefruit, I headed home to drop them off and then went out again to finish my walk. Those things are heavy! When I headed back down our lane, Bill and Clemson met me and we sauntered back together for our tea and coffee.

Putting greens all over the park

But you have to provide the balls and clubs

Bill wanted to meet the couple from Illinois, in the Alto that was purchased at CanAm so he walked over while I caught up on friend’s blog posts and comments. He was curious about who they knew at CanAm and their story. He was gone for maybe half hour so I knew he had a chance to meet them. John and Sandy welcomed him and they had a nice chit chat. They had not met before, having bought their Alto the fall of 2016 when he wasn’t working there.

Ken and Nancy just two rows over from us

One pool table and a nice fireplace

One of the pools

Oooh, Clemson would like this! NOT!!

I had my shower when he returned and then made bacon and eggs for breakfast at 10. We were discussing today’s plans and Ken had mentioned that the San Xavier Mission was something to see, as did Nancy in her comment. It was settled then, plans for the day. So, Bill had his shower and we all left shortly after 12:30.

Today is Ash Wednesday, so there is a service at 12:15. Not needing a blessing today (my sister thinks we might be struck by lightening if we went!) we opted to go AFTER the service so we could still view the church ‘safely’. Thanks Donna for that reflection, by the way.  http://www.sanxaviermission.org/

Wow! Ancient and beautiful

Approaching the Mission gets you enthralled instantly. What a magnificent sight! The Mission was first founded in 1692, established by a Jesuit missionary Father Kino. He was renowned for bringing Catholicism to the indigenous peoples of the area. This structure was begun in 1783 with 7,000 pesos borrowed from a Sonoran rancher. Villagers from Bac, a nearby village, helped build from start to finish.

The ceiling, you know what they say about pictures
No justice is done with these either

Now that is an impressive altar

Artists from central New Spain (Mexico) worked to complete the interior for 14 years. When the money ran out, the artists and artisans were discharged, with the structure unfinished. The east tower had no dome and was left with bare bricks while inside the paintings in the choir loft and baptistry were also incomplete. Bac’s parishioners didn’t stop, dismantling their old church and rebuilding to Xavier.

Wooden statue of San Francisco Xavier
Parishioners would leave lapel pins or medical bracelets pinned to his covering
Only a few shown here but Nancy said it was covered when they visited last

I didn't need any proof about Bill and Ken
but they were both able to lift the head of the statue
Nancy and I didn't try

The Mission fell under the jurisdiction of Spain until Mexico won independence in 1821 and in 1854 San Xavier was brought into the United States. The flag of the Tohono O’odham Nation flies over the mission. Since then the church has been restored and preserved at a cost of more than $10 million. There are many more restorations to be done before it is finished. We truly enjoyed the church and its history from beginning to end of our self-guided tour.

You walked in and out of different rooms
Through a cactus garden and into a smaller Chapel filled with lit candles

The Chapel burned badly within the last couple of years
The statues are wooden so there are now very strict rules to follow when inside
lighting candles

After the fire, less statues but seemingly
fully restored

The church remains a working church with spiritual leadership to the parish weekly. There is a school next to the Mission dating back to 1873, currently educating an attendance between grades K-8. 

I thought this was very touching as Ken and Nancy lit a candle

We stopped at the Gift Shop, of course! Bill found a really nice t-shirt representing the Nation and I picked up a few post cards and greeting cards. 

You were semi-covered as you walked from some of the rooms
The roof is impressive, hand built and these spikey things would be to keep
the birds from nesting up there
Harsh perhaps, but necessary

This is a photograph

This is the actual corner talked about above

You don't even have to guess whether this is genuine kitchen tools

We walked over to the little Café on site and had an afternoon Appetizer with a drink. We each ordered a plate of 3 different flavoured Popovers, an Indian fare. Nancy didn’t need to but she treated us to this Valentine’s Day special. Thanks Nancy! These were very light pastries with either honey, chocolate or strawberry drizzle. All were very good and we discussed our favourite while chatting about the day’s adventure.

ooey gooey Good for a treat

The rain that was forecasted for today arrived sporadically, a few drops here and there before we left home and by the time we were inside the church, it became more of a light rainfall. It was warm though between 52F and 60F. With no wind, light jackets were all that was required. Classes were just getting out as we were trying to make our exit from the lot. Parents’ vehicles must get frustrated with the tourists!

One side restored, the right badly in need

Appropriate, no?

You could hike up Grotto Hill if you wished
We did not
This was not part of the Church property but certain special services were carried out up there
We didn't get much info about it

We returned to the park dropping Ken and Nancy off around 3:30 at their Solitude. We’ll see them before we leave in the morning. We have sure made the best of our 2 days together.

A great picture of great friends together

Clemson is either getting more and more fed up with his parents or getting used to the fact that suppertime is later and later. He is such a good little guy, looking after all of our worldly possessions when we vacate for our trips. I had pulled a steak out of the freezer before we left and it was mostly thawed but with our late ‘treat’ we don’t need a big meal. Maybe a bowl of chili will fit the bill tonight when we are hungry.

Simple supper

Large motor coaches are pulling in behind us on the other side of the fence and we’re trying to understand why they are there, exactly. Two Allegros are plugged into hydro but not water and no slides are open. We wonder if they have flown out somewhere. Sometimes that is what we spend time on, trying to figure out what other people are doing. Curiosity, that is what it is and because what else do we have to be concerned about.

Poor Bill had to squeeze out around me to stay in the picture
But a nice picture of us all

Just now, I watched a Phaeton back in directly behind our Suite. First, she directed him and then he got out while she backed up the last 5’ and he plugged in, hooked up water and put their slides out. Hmm, guess these two are staying. Now that I see that, I am thinking this is ‘overflow’ parking for some as there are no trees, indicating perhaps not regular sites.

this is the on site Cafe of which I can't recall the name

The biggest performance was watching her backing up their Honda CRV. We agree, not a big tow vehicle, right? He appeared as if he was ready to bop her one, trying to get her onto the middle of the paved pad. He finally went into the coach. Where she left it, they can’t open the CRV driver’s door at the same time as they open the door to the coach. My oh my. I shouldn’t, but I do chuckle as I people-watch. I’m sure I’m not the only one who does this.

Into each life, a little rain must fall

It was Jim Croce who sang the words “No one ever had a rainbow without first having the rain.”

I poured my last bit of Beer Margaritas that are mixed up and sat in my chair beside Bill and Clem with my book. Bill had a snooze and I read. This book is so good! Around 5:45 Bill got up and retrieved a can of chili from the hall cupboard. I just glared at him with a “you’ve got to be kidding me? Did we discuss supper?” look. He made the motion of mind reading by touching his temples and pointing to me. We laughed, no we had not talked about chili but we each had our own idea.

That was easy and just enough. He had his on toast and I had mine with soda crackers and butter. The brand we bought in a 6 pack (Costco) is much spicier than we like it but we’re halfway through them. If I make a full pot of homemade one day, I’ll add them to it but I must admit it comes in handy on nights like this when we aren’t too hungry.

On the wall outside of the Gift Shop

Bill addressed a few post cards that he bought yesterday to send back home and then we cleaned up the dishes. 

Speaking of home
Donna sent these of the Ridge today
They had a sunny day and +6 today 42F)

These great days are just piling up on top of each other and no one can say we aren’t making the best of them. Today was our second mostly full day of rain since we left home in late October. If we’d hung around the park, we’d have been restricted indoors so this was the best thing to do. Go sightseeing!

The first picture was Bill and I
Valentine's Day 2010
This one is from today.
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

I hope you have enjoyed your day. Thank you for stopping by. Your comments mean a lot to me. I will answer each one.