A "Mission" from God

Ah a nice Saturday morning and instead of sleeping in I decide I need to go for a ride. But where to? My first thought is to head out to New Mexico with my pal Chris O to tour the VLA. Only issue is I told him I wasn’t going to do 600 miles today. Reflecting in the glorious morning glow I come to the conclusion that I need to go stop always planning trips and just head out and find something. Never one to argue, I decide to just ride and see what happens! On with the gear and away I go!


20 Miles south of the house and I am cold. This may come as a surprise but our desert in the morning is cold. I pull off at a rest area and put on the one extra shirt I have with me. It is a short sleeved one which I bring in case I want to go hiking later in the day. While there I fall in love with the looks of the GT all over again. Man this is a great moto!

The road pushes me into Tucson but I don’t want to stop and get sidetracked here today. So as I roll on, I see Highway 19 heading to Nogales. A few exits later and I see San Xavier del Bac calling out to me.



This place is amazing. There is a group of kids getting ready for a service so I don’t even go inside because while very old for the New World, it is still a active parish.


The building is undergoing restoration on the outside but it is glorious to behold.


The Lion of the Sonora Desert. I always thought Lions ate Christians? I may need to brush up on my theology some


After a few more minutes reflecting on the beauty I decide that the best way to move forward is to go find someplace for breakfast


So I go down the road, gas up in Green Valley, but it doesn’t capture me so Southward I roam! At the Amado exit I discover….THE COW PALACE! Good eats for sure


And they say everything is bigger in Texas.


Some interesting Arizona Trivia. Interstate Highway 19 is the only highway in Arizona and maybe the US that is marked in the metric system. Sorry Bob.


Do you think this Milk truck makes me look fat?


Again rolling after food, I look for more places to take pictures. Next stop is Tumacacori National Historic Park. Man that GT looks good.

Upon entering I encounter a man who see’s me with my cameras and says there isn’t a bad angle in the house! Man was he right. This place is amazing. First stop was the garden


Two Butterflies working hard


The Orange Bee Bandit! And you thought Zorro was bad!



The old Mission itself


The shapes are cool and the sky is so blue in Arizona.


The door is so detailed when you think about how old the mission is. Ironwood ages so well.


The old adobe walls are just fun to take pictures of . Very Worthy!



A Mexican woman was making these in the courtyard. MMMMMM



For me at the mission I find myself just being absorbed in taking the pictures. Today is a day for me to not plan anything but let my emotions take over the camera. It really adds to my expression I found. Wow I can be really deep sometimes…or it could be I have no other way to say I took a picture of a log in some mud. You decide.


I love this shot. Its my blog so I can add it


This cross reminds me of the last Indiana Jones movie. I know that sounds odd but if you remember the part of the film where Indy has to pick the Holy Grail from about 300 choices?


I ride towards home via Patagonia and see a future tale in the making. Like Natalie says out there somewhere is NAPAzona!

It’s good to have goals!