After the Rally

Mission San Juan Bautista, still functions as a parish church 

The picturesque town of San Juan Bautista is a few miles away from our rally site at the Betabel RV Park. 

Father Lasuen established the mission here in 1797. Mission San Juan Bautista is one of the 21 missions stretching from San Diego in the south to Sonoma just above San Francisco Bay in the north, built by Franciscan friars to convert the local Indians and to teach them agriculture and industry. 

map indicating the 21 missions built in the New Spain
 province of Alta California, as the Spanish moved north from
Mexico

In 1769 the Spanish began occupying what is now California and established four presidios (forts) to protect the new colonies. Using existing routes established by the Indians for trade, hunting, and gathering, the Spanish expanded these existing routes to link the missions, forts, and towns. The missions were spaced roughly 30 miles apart or a day's ride on horseback. The 600-miles of roads became known as el Camino Real (the Royal Road), and today are marked with mission bells along sections of Highway 101. 



Despite good intentions to colonize, convert, and improve the lives of the native population, the consequences were not as positive. It leaves one just a little unsettled to see the graveyard at the side of the mission with a plaque stating that it holds about 4,300 people in unmarked graves. 


Mission San Juan Bautista also happens to lie on the San Andreas fault that runs through this region and has suffered damage from several earthquakes. 
The small town grew around the mission and expanded during the California Gold Rush. 

main street in San Juan Bautista, with original buildings

Small towns, we have found, have a tendency to emphasize every aspect of their short history, no matter how small, and original buildings are typically marked with plaques bearing dates and names. Although there are several original buildings remaining in the town of San Juan Bautista, someone with a sense of humor added this plaque to his business:

There is a sweet quilt shop in this little town that I visited twice with fellow quilters at the rally. In fact, there are several quilters in this group and it has been fun to exchange ideas. And yes, of course, I indulged and found a cute baby quilt that I think our grandson who is on his way will love to cuddle under;) 
And that is how projects continue to grow and multiply, even in our home on wheels. 

We also drove to Hollister, a matter of few miles east of San Juan Bautista, known for its greatly media-exaggerated riots during the 1947 Gypsy Tour motorcycle rally. Hollister also lies along the Calaveras fault line, part of the San Andreas Fault. We went fault-hunting to see evidence of how this creeping fault shifts sidewalks and walls.

this offset wall caused by the fault shifting is located across the street from a park

Our stay in Betabel RV Resort was not all play. I am happy to report that Michael resolved our jacks issue. Since his attempt to level the Alpine on a slope in Mariposa, the rear jacks have been misbehaving by initially extending properly, but then slowly retracting again.  He was able to fix one jack by installing a spare hydraulic solenoid that he had on board.  And then Engineer Mike Fleming, also at the rally with us, gave him a part to repair the other defective solenoid.  So for now all hydraulic systems are working properly again and we can level the Alpine and extend the slides.

And of course there is the matter of an election in a few days. Being on the road without a home base and mail box adds a new dimension to our lives. Somehow as a result of our change of address, I did not receive my mail-in ballot.  Fortunately I discovered that I was able to complete my ballot online. However, it still needed to be printed so off we went in search of the nearest Staples in Gilroy. It was interesting to go through the process of on-line voting. We truly are a technological society, and yet the final ballot still requires the obligatory postmark and is delivered via snail mail. 

I had time after the rally to set up my sewing machine. Somehow the sound of the motor always restores my chi. I was glad to complete a baby quilt for our grandson-to-be, and start the new quilt that I found in the quilt store in San Juan Bautista. We will be flying to Bangkok in December to meet the little fellow who is due to arrive in the next week or so, which doesn't leave too much time to complete all baby sewing projects. 

flannel scrap quilt for baby grandson