Mission San Xavier del Bac
We visited the mission on our way to the airport. I wish we would have had more time to spend there. None of the photos I took inside came out very well, but it was beautiful. I love old churches; they smell of incense and there is a feeling of solemnity that you don't get in modern church buildings.
This mission is located south of Tucson on the Tohono O'odham Reservation. The oldest part of the mission dates to 1753, but most of the structure was built starting in 1783.
This is the view across the Tucson basin to the Santa Catalina mountains. Interestingly, the Tucson basin has 7000' of fill before you reach bedrock. Over the span of geologic time, rocks and dirt have washed off the surrounding mountains (Tucson is surrounded by 5 different ranges) and filled the valley. Imagine how tall the mountains must have been before erosion.
This is a grotto at the mission; it is modeled on the grotto at Lourdes, France.
The hill where the grotto is located.
posted by Jeremy @ 12:51 PM
3 Comments:
Whoa, this is some serious blogging! I'm sorry it's taken me this long to comment. Thanks for such wonderful pictures of your trip--although you both know that I prefer pictures with people in them, I do acknowledge that you do lovely landscape photography.
I also really appreciated the bits of info, like the trees with chlorophyl in their bark. And the Wile E. Coyote reference gave me--a non-nature-girl--some useful context.
Hey Jeremy...I have not heard from you in such a very long time! I hope all is well with you and the girls. I see that Dea is having another baby - yay!! That's great. I miss ya'll so much. Holler at me sometime. my email is manateegirl2003@yahoo.com (same as always) and I have a mySpace page!! (Nowadays, who doesn't? I also gave you a little shout on myspace under the "about me" section;)
Love always,
Summer
I want to see pregnant Deandra!
love,
me
Post a Comment
<< Home