As I left Lompoc for Solvang I saw a California Historical Sign pointing to the left for La Pursimia Mission, 1 mile. Made a quick left and, as I approached another road I noticed quite a few vehicles parked on both side of the road -- though not where there were "No Parking" signs at access roads for agriculture fields.
Looked left and right but saw no sign for the Mission -- so I turned left. Then realized I should have gone straight ahead into the Mission Parking lot. Hung a U and drove up to the kiosk at the entrance to the parking lot. The cost was $6. After I told the woman I was trying to take photos of as many mission as possible, she relented -- but not much. Realizing that I was a Sprung Chicken, she said parking for seniors was $5.
Said I would pass and turned around in the parking lot before heading back toward SR46, the route to Solvang. I now understand why so many vehicles were parked along the road approaching the entrance to the La Purisima Mission. In any case, when I get to WiFi (likely in Goleta) will check out a web site I found after visiting the San Miguel Mission. Can't find the brief history I read previously; in its stead, here's a Wikipedia piece on La Purisima Mission.
Solvang was like the former Santa's Village in Scotts Valley near Santa Cruz, but on a much larger scale. Was principally interested in locating the Library to see if they left their WiFi on and then noticed the Santa Inez/Inez Mission on my right. I got there almost excactly at noon as services were ending. So I had to wait for some of the attendees to clear out so that I could get shots such as this first one of the bell tower through the pepper trees. [A woman working at sweeping up dried pepper tree leaves across Mission St at the Senior Center assured me that there were olives on the mission grounds as well; in fact, she had apparently been to Israel for she said there were some trees there which were over a 1000 years old.]
This second photo was taken from the other end of the building, which was apparently completed in the 1820s even though the mission was founded in 1802 or 1804. Since it's in an area which is fairly heavily populated, it's in the best shape of any of the mission I've visited yet. [While I think of it, I just missed the San Luis Obispo Mission while looking for a gas station last Wednesday, though I was close since a school I passed was called Old Mission School; however, the streets of SLO more like the hilly sections of San Francisco rather than the flatter portions of Santa Cruz. In any case, here's a Wikipedia piece on San Luis Obispo Mission.]
About the only building I saw in Solvang which did have either the mission-style architecture or the Danish Gingerbread House look was a State Farm Office -- and the agent was a woman with a Spanish name. This first shot was taken on the street paralleling the main drag, Mission St., looking to the SW down Copenhagen Avenue or Street.
The 2d shot was an afterthought as I walked back to my rig since I saw yet another Danish Windmill. Tom Stienstra, author of West Coast RV Camping noted that Solvang had won several awards as one of the cleaner towns in the U.S. Think of Solvang as the Danish version of Carmel -- but without as many art galleries!
Lake Cachuma is on the Santa Ynez/Inez River and is likely the water supply for Santa Barbara since it's unlawful to even think about swimming, water-skiing, or bathing in it. This first photo is the of the water immediately behind the dam.
This 2d photo is of the remainder of the lake to the right. If memory serves, the dam was built in 1953, which explains why the trees here in the Cachuma Lake Recreation Area are so large. While most are native species, they've had water during drought years or they wouldn't be as large as they are now. [This RV campground, with 592 sites may well be the biggest I have visited in my travels so far.]
Lastly, here's a sunset from the door of my camper looking NW at the ridge between Santa Ynez Peak and Bald Mtn.
M 24 Jan Route: Cachuma Lake - Goleta - Santa Barbara - Ojai - Wheeler Gorge Campground (USFS)
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