A Visit to Grandma's

Spring Break!!!

For my first real "Spring Break" ever, I got to visit my Gramma Leslie & my dad's family in Tucson, Arizona! What a great trip!

We kept busy with hiking, visiting with family, bar-b-ques, Dominoes, visiting some of the old Spanish Missions, and soaking up as much sunshine as possible. Just a great beginning of summer! (I know it's early for summer, but this trip definitely put me in the mood.)

San Xavier Mission

Sadly, this place was a vivid image of misplaced faith.

This "statue" is an image of St. Francis. Visitors are instructed to rub the head, stomach, and feet of this image to improve their standing with God. They also pin requests and prayers onto the clothing of St. Francis.

Tumacacori Mission

This mission is a non-active church. However, it holds quite a bit of history. It is the oldest Jesuit mission site in southern Arizona.

The Mission was a complete community.

They had a school on the property. These are the remains of the schoolhouse.

They also grew their own food.

By 1848, the mission was abandoned and the buildings fell into disrepair.

While the Jesuits no longer used the buildings, many other travelers used them as shelter from the elements, often leaving their marks on the walls.

This inscription seems to have been from the 2nd Idaho Division in the Mexican-American War.

Even General John Pershing admitted to scrawling on the walls when he was a lieutenant on campaign in the Southwest.

I admit, I played with the colors on this one, but the character of the building was amazing! I just couldn't resist!