SoCal Trip: Los Angeles to San Diego

13 March 1985

This was our day to drive down Route 1 to San Diego.  We took our time and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.  The weather gods were on our side and we had a fantastic day with plenty of sunshine and blue skies on our way south from LA.

Nearing Oceanside, a road sign with the words Mission San Luis Rey caught our eye.  With spare time on our hands, we decided to make a short detour.  We were not disappointed.  With its white-washed walls gleaming under the brilliant afternoon sun, the mission lived up to its nickname, King of the Missions.  It was a scene right out of the westerns we used to watch as kids.

Here's some information I posted in my photo album at the time (again, no source information):

The Mission was founded in 1798 by Padre Lasuén.  It was named after King Louis of France (13th Century).

The mission system was one of the marvels of history.  While colonists in other parts of the world tried to expropriate and exterminate the natives, the Franciscan padres and Spaniards sought to save them.  Within a short time, the Indians progressed from a state of barbarism to a relatively high level of civilization.  Large sections of the countryside were brought under cultivation, and the Mission became the home of two to three thousand Indians.  As late as 1832, Padre Antonio Peyri was still in charge of this vast enterprise.

In 1834, a law of secularization was passed; and politicians took over.  Mission properties were put in the hands of the Indians, and almost immediately bought from them for a pittance by greedy colonials.  In the home of their own people, the Indians became outcasts.  They withdrew to the hills and secluded valleys where almost total extinction awaited them.

In the unsettled period that followed its seizure, the Mission was reduced to nothing more than a noble ruin.  In 1865, Abraham Lincoln restored the Mission to the church.  He signed the deed (the original of which is at San Luis Rey) less than a month before his assassination.  In 1892, and again in recent years, restoration on a large scale has been undertaken and the splendor of the past has returned to some degree.

For more information about the King of the Missions, click here to visit the website.

By the time we reached San Diego, we were too tired to do much more than peek around Old Town San Diego and make a quick stop at Shelter Island to check out the scenery.  When we caught sight of the Yokohama Friendship Bell, we couldn’t resist one quick photo op.

The bell stands 6-feet (1.8 m) high and weighs nearly 2½ tons. The words “Bell of Friendship” are inscribed on it in both English and Japanese.  As is the case with traditional Japanese bells, it has no clapper inside.  It is rung by being struck with a big wooden ram that is suspended horizontally from two v-shaped chains.  The bell house, open on four sides and surrounded by a moat, is typical of those found in Japan.