We began our day driving toward Los Angeles. This was the one day that I was the most concerned about our endeavor. We wanted to make it to three missions along with some other side stops up the coast. Add to that the dreaded LA traffic, and I assure you I was quite tense as we began the day's trip. However, we did manage to enjoy all that we had planned. We even added a little side trip to the LA Cathedral! It helped that we were only driving about 150 miles for the day. Our main objective for stopping at the cathedral was to view the relics of St. Vibiana, a early Roman saint we learned about a couple of weeks before. Unfortunately, the small chapel dedicated to this saint was occupied by a funeral Mass when we arrived. We would have stayed had the parking fees not been outrageous. We were able to see the modern church and then we were off to the next mission.
San Gabriel the Archangel was the 4th mission established by Fr. Serra in 1771. In 1775, the mission was moved because of a military uprising. The natives, Tongva, assisted at both sites, even helping to choose the second site location.
The style of this mission is quite different from the others, as it had the influence of the Moorish fortress like design. Another point of interest for this location is the fact that it had the oldest and largest winery in California. This was also considered the most productive agriculture mission of California. As we walked along side the mission building, we were surprised by the length. There are six bells in the bell wall with the oldest cast in Mexico City in 1795. In the lower left you see the large bell which weighs over a ton. It is dated 1830 and was used to ring the Angelus for over a century. This was definitely the best view of the exterior.
We walked through the enclosed gardens and were intrigued by the equipment that looked as if it had been used in recent years, instead of 200 years ago.
We would continue the mission trail north and arrived at San Fernando just a few miles away.
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