Back To The Mission

I had called Frigidaire again to see about getting the microwave fixed. I figured that since I was going to be in Tucson for a week, there might be a chance of getting it fixed. Frigidaire gave me the number of a repair place and I called them. They said that I had to bring the microwave into their shop for them to look at it. Excuse me – this is a built in microwave. There is no way that I would take on the job of dismantling it even if I knew how to do it. I called the main office of Frigidaire back again and the woman said to me – you know, the first available appointment I can get you is Thursday next week. Thursday is the day I am planning on leaving town again. Then she said, you know – even if they come out, they are probably going to have to order parts which can take another five days. Oh well, guess I will try to figure out where I'm going to be next for a long period of time. So...no microwave.

Today I wandered down to Tumacacori – a mission that was started in 1691. It was first started by the Jesuits and then fifty years later, the king of Spain decided to arrest all the Jesuits because they weren't sending enough money back to Spain. A year later, the Franciscans came and took over the Mission. The Mission continued until 1848 when the Apaches and hard winters finally closed it down.

I got to the mission right around 2:00 and lucked out because there was a tour starting right then. It was a nice day to wander around the ruins and it was nice to have somebody tell us what it was we were seeing. Our docent was a guy from Minnesota who was very proud of the fact that he worked in law enforcement in the attorney general's office (Skip Humphrey). Standard mission stuff – church, granary, school. The interior was a little different, very narrow and no pews. The congregation were expected to stand or kneel. The church is still used occasionally by the descendents of the O'odham tribe.

There were a lot of artists setting up their easels, evidently this mission is a favorite among artists.

The Ranger and the Mission

Those are altars sticking out from the sides