OK, so I only made it to two missions today. Now that I have had a chance to look it up I think I was only about a block from the third but it was not well signed and traffic was insane and I was more interested in lunch than the mission. Hopefully, I will have a chance to catch it on the way home.
So, the first stop was San Antonio de Padua. An interesting mission in that 
it is located on an Army Base. Kudos to the Army for letting us get in. Unfortunately for me the mission is currently undergoing a massive rehab so the front gallery was all closed down. I did get a look in the chapel and around the gardens so all was not lost. The best part was meeting Rosario, the mission cat. He was very friendly and showed me around for awhile until I decided to go a different direction than he had in mind.
I wanted to say that the reason I like to visit the missions is because they have an interesting history and unique architecture which is fun to photograph. Such as this rooftop bell structure. 
I understand that Native Americans were not treated well by the missionaries and I am not intending to glorify or romanticize them. I just think they are interesting. And isn’t most of history about some oppressor oppressing some innocent people? And how can we do better if we do not study the history that has gone before? And sorry, but I don’t think I should be held responsible for what my ancestors may or may not have done to your ancestors. OK?
OK soapbox moment over. The next mission on my route was San Miguel. Here I found
a classic gallery which seemed to cry out for black and white. And then I snuck around to the cemetery where I found this awesome gate.
I did eventually find lunch in a cute little seaside town called Shell Beach. The Shell Beach Brewery was in fact the name of the restaurant and they didn’t even mind that I ordered wine with my meal. Then I checked into my hotel for the next five nights. Check out the view from my room. If you like that wait till you see the sunset pictures I just shot!
Tomorrow, fingers crossed for sea otters. I think Road Scholar is going to keep me busy so I hope I have time to process my pictures and post a blog.
But you want to see pictures. I finally had a chance for photo ops in San Juan Bautista, home of the first mission (of the same name) on my route. Unfortunately the place was overrun by school children. But I managed to sneak a few pictures around them. First this bench with turquoise doors and windows under the gallery porc
h. then of course the classic mission bells shot which I grunged up a bit using Topaz Texture Effects. The town itself was interesting and full of nineteenth century architecture. I may try to stop on my way back and see if things are a little quieter.
Next stop was Nuestra Senora de la Soledad where things were a little more in keeping with my idea of what a mission visit should look like. I especially liked the Gregorian chants playing in the background. This first image is of the chapel door. A complete restoration was required at this mission after having been abandoned for 100 years. The remains of the adobe walls of the original church have been given a roof structure to protect them from further decay.
the chapel. I tried a couple different treatments on this one. If you would like to see it in black and white go to 
an resist the shapes and textures of a grain elevator? Not me for sure. Here is the first one I stopped at done in a Platinum tone black and white treatment in Topaz Black and White Effects.
cried out for a cool tone treatment so I went with a Cyanatone, also in Topaz B&W Effects. I toned it down some using decreased saturation in Photoshop but I still think the toning is a bit overdone. I’m also not crazy about the jet streak in the sky but it could be argued that the diagonal line adds something.
n themselves but for this trip they had to be just a fly by. I made three laps around the auto tour route and came up with this handsome Snowy Egret who seemed much more interested in his/her dinner than me and my car blind. And for once the sun was coming from the right direction.
Then there was this Western Meadowlark just hanging out on the edge of the lake, actually there were several, along with some Brewer’s blackbirds. I still can’t get over the detail in the feathers that is coming out of the 7D Mark II. Wow, just wow.