Every fourth grader in the state of California learns about the California missions. In the 1700s, Catholic friars established missions along the coast of Alta and Baja California in an effort to defend the territory for Spain and also bring Christianity to the Native Americans. In addition to learning about the missions in class, many students build a replica model of one mission and write a report on it at home. Its a very big deal and a rite of passage for many fourth graders. Because there are 21 missions in present day California and in an effort to make it fair for everyone, Finn's class randomly chose their missions at drawing. Finn chose San Francisco de Solano - the last mission built in California and the furthest away from our present location. My mother is a teacher and she decided it would be a great idea to drive the boys up to Northern California to visit Finn's mission. Experiencing Mission San Francisco de Solano first hand would totally benefit Finn in writing and building his mission project. Along the way, my mom anticipated we could stop at San Francisco for a day and maybe check out a couple other missions in the area. I am always up for a road trip so I immediately agreed. On December 26th, my parents, Matt, the boys and I began the Great Mission Adventure.
Our first stop was San Francisco. Thanks to new Christmas gifts, the 8 hour drive up North went smoothly. There was no yelling or arguing between the boys. My dad didnt seem to loose his temper with so many people being in such close quarters. It was actually very pleasant. The kids read their new Christmas books and played on their ipods most of the time. My dad and Matt talked politics and sports. My mom finished up a quilt she was making and I alternated between sleeping and reading.
Even though the road trip was brought about because of Finn's mission assignment, we decided to stop in San Francisco for Seamus. Seamus has long held a fascination with San Francisco. He's read tons of books about the city's history and watched many documentaries about the earthquake in 1906, Alcatraz, the making of the Golden Gate Bridge, etc. We arrived in SF in the late afternoon. We were tired from the trip, but because we were spending less than 24 hours in the city we decided to take an hour long harbor tour immediately upon arrival. What a great decision that was! It was cold and I think a couple of us would have preferred to rest in the hotel, but we all got on that boat and sailed around the bay. It was thrilling to ride under the Golden Gate Bridge and see it so close. Our captain was very knowledgable and shared lots of details about various points of interest in the bay. We caught our boat's last tour of the day and unbeknownst to us, it was a beautiful time to see the sites of the city. We got to see the sun set out in the Pacific and see the city lights come up at twilight. It was magical.
The color in the bay during our tour completely took me by surprise. It was perfect. While I can occasionally take some pretty nice picures, I am not schooled on light and exposure. My inexperience that day didnt matter because the color coming off the water was stunning! There were dark rain clouds to the North, but with the sun setting in the west the Golden Gate Bridge glowed. It was such a vibrant orange color. We all remarked how lucky we were to see it in that beautiful light. The pictures below were taken on our tour. I tweak all the pictures I post here on the blog, but those images below came straight out of the camera as is. That is the real, unedited color of the bridge during that hour of the day. I will never forget how beautiful the bridge looked among the water. It was radiant.
We rounded off our long first day with a fantastic meal at Scoma's in the warf and a trip to Union Square in a cable car. When I asked Finn how he liked the ride, he said "It was very steep and hilly. Thank goodness for the hand rails." ha ha I slept so soundly that night. I think we all did.
Day Two of the Great Mission Adventure soon.
Happy Thursday.
