Biking Along the Coast

When you look for us on the map, you will find we are near San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, and Laguna Niguel, all of which we reached on our bicycles. Yesterday morning we took off south along the beach on a bicycle trail. We went about 6.5 miles to San Clemente Pier, stopping to watch dolphins cruising just off shore. The day was sunny but not real warm. We saw lots of surfer's as this is one of the best spots in the area. Using the binoculars, we were able to see Richard Nixon's western White House (well, sort of). Then yesterday evening we had supper with friends whom we jeeped with this past summer at their house. A wonderful evening.

Today we road our bikes inland to San Juan Capistrano Mission, built in 1776 by Father Junipero Serra. This is the 7th in a chain of 21 missions. Most of the rooms and buildings in the mission were built around a a central plaza, the industrial areas on the outside. The had gardens, vats for dying wool,for making wine, and for tanning hides. They made their own tallow used in soap, tanning, and candles. A small chapel is still used every morning for mass. The Great Stone Church was begun in 1797 and took 9 years to construct. Then on Dec. 8, 1812 an earthquake struck during morning mass toppling all 7 domes and killing 42 people. It was never rebuilt.

We left the mission after lunch and went in search of fresh fish for supper. This took us into Laguna Niguel, up a very LONG and HIGH HILL!! The grocery produced no fresh fish so we coasted down hill to the Dana Point Marina and got some salmon steaks at the fish market. YUMMY! We rode about 12 miles today. We had appetizers while basking in a glorious red sunset. A great ending to a very nice day.