SharivilleLife stories from Shari

Today was a more laid back day for us.   Tomorrow  we head out for further west.  We plan to drive to at least  Quartsite.  The next day we pull into Emerald Cove on the Colorado River for 4 days.  We were there last year only in April.  That’s one of our fav places.  I love to see that gorgeous blue river running thru the desert.

Today we visited the Mission San Xavier Del Bac.  It sits outside the city of Tucson, in the flat desert and can be seen for miles around.  It’s called “The White Dove,” of the desert.  I have to say, It is much prettier than our missions in Calif.  Its very ornate inside, very beautiful.  I just sat on one of the benches inside and felt consumed with peace.  Then a bus load of people arrived and that feeling quickly disappeared.    This mission was founded in 1692 by Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino. The foundation was laid in 1700.  Lots of stuff around here bears the Kino name.  This church took 14 yrs to build between 1783 to 1797.  Boy that seems like a long time ago.  I think they have come a long way around here since then. It sits in the middle of an American Indian reservation.   The floor plan resembles a Latin  Cross.  It has chapels at each end.  The dome is so beautiful looking up from the inside and also from the outside.  It’s 52 ft. high, looks higher to me.  The dome is supported by arches and squinches.  While we were there there was a woman on a rising type ladder doing some restoration work on one of the inside walls.  Most of the paintings are original, altho some what faded.   This church is the oldest Catholic church in America still serving parishioners to which it was founded.  I got some really nice picts.  The lions on either side of the communion rail  represent the ” Lions of Castile,” a tribute to the  reigning family in ‘Spain  during the time the church was being built. They have been redone and re-carved in wood to look like the original. 

The gardens around the Mission are of course cacti.  It is so very lovely and peaceful.   There is every kind of cactus I have ever seen represented in the gardens.  The entire Mission is cared for with the upmost respect.  It was such a pleasure to visit here. We came back to the rig and had pears, apples with crackers and cheese and wine. A very relaxing day.  Have to get prepared for tomorrow.  It should be a pretty drive, the cactus are beginning to bloom…………..Hugs,           S  and J.