National Park Mission Trail - Espada Mission

We had a delicious lunch at Bill Miller BBQ (thanks, Josh and Gavino, for recommending this place. Josh, our son had told us to eat here and Gavino recommended it because he eats here most work days). Gavino and Ruth left us to explore Espada Mission on our own since our sightseeing was Gavino's first walking and outing after some medical problems. Mission Espada is much smaller and less restored than San Jose. We thought its church facade was a unique design with the three bells.
Above: The church facade.
Below: A diagram of the mission.







Above: The inside of the church
Below: Doug was intrigued by the use of these "bricks" in the arches.



As we left Mission Espada, we crossed the San Antonio River and came upon two Ibis and a Heron searching for some lunch.




Below: The one ibis flew away.....


We are staying one more day in San Antonio so we can enjoy the Penn State vs. Minnesota game on TV. Doug is also working on a project on the motorhome while he is waiting for the game to begin. We will drive the 5 hours south to Mission, Texas tomorrow at a more leisurely pace than we would have done today if trying to make it before the Penn State game. Doug will spend the first week or two looking for a part-time job of some sort in order to boost our sagging investments.

Since we are leaving San Antonio tomorrow, we will have to visit the other two missions on the Mission Trail in March when we spend some spring time in San Antonio when it is too warm to stay in the Rio Grande Valley but too cold to go further north. If we have time after the Penn State game, I'd like to go back and see the dam and aquaduct system that is preserved at Mission Espada. We did not see that yesterday. The life-blood of all the missions was the need for a water supply for the people, crops, and cattle. The San Antonio River supplied that need. Mission Espada has some of the aquaducts preserved a little upstream of the mission.

We are excited that our friends, Ruth and Gavino, have promised to come visit us down in the Valley this winter. We can't wait. The RV Resort where we are staying November 1 to March 1 also has beautiful casitas for rent for folks who don't have a motorhome. As soon as we get to the resort on November 1, we will check for possible dates and make their reservation.