Downey is easily withing driving distance from many of the 21 California missions planted by Spanish padres along the El Camino Real.
Instead of driving, today we decided to take the train down to San Juan Capistrano Mission. It was a nice way to spend the day, absorbing some history and being impressed by how much of the adobe structure is still left standing. The mission dates back to November, 1776, when it was founded by Junipero Serra.It was a beautiful summer day. The mission covers a fairly large area, which is filled with an amazing variety of flowers and plants. It seemed there were butterflies and hummingbirds everywhere we went.
