Mission Site at Tumacácori

I have been intrigued with missions after seeing my first one in southern California in 1986, Mission San Juan Capistrono. I bought a family of glass swallows at that mission which are displayed on a corner shelf in our home. I also toured the El Paso Mission in Texas back in the early 90s.

We first visited the Tumacácori Mission in March 2009. When I realized last week we would have the time to stop on our geocaching adventure, I begged for 15 minutes with the camera. I think I took more than 15, but I was delighted to wander in this National Historic Park south of Tucson.

entrance to visitor center & museum

built in 1937

San José de Tumacácori

mission church from a window in the visitor center

"Mass is held yearly on the first Sunday of December during the Tumacácori Fiesta. It is held in front of the church due to the large number of people in attendance. A Mass is held inside the church once each year in conjunction with Tubac Presidio State Historic Park's "Anza Day" in October."

started as a small church in 1757 by Jesuit missionaries

Franciscans began building a larger church in 1800

bell tower over the baptistry

bell tower was never completed

it was the third floor of the tower

notice the tiled floor of the baptistry 

above the baptistery was the robe room

and entrance to the choir loft

sanctuary wall behind the altar

flower cross on the altar

ceiling of the sanctuary

remnants of framed pictures & original wall paintings

detailed carving on the church's wooden door

bell tower view from the ruin window

ruin probably where the priest lived

sanctuary dome and sacristy view from ruin window

traditional O'odham dwelling called a melhok ki

meaning ocotillo house

with a juato or mesquite ramada

grinding stones

dome over the sanctuary and roof over sacristy

clay pots in the storehouse

"Foodstuffs were stored here for distribution to the community. Prior to the coming of the Spanish, the local diet consisted of squash, beans, corn, game, and wild plants. The Spanish brought domestic sheep, goats, and cattle, adding protein to the diet. They brought wheat, which could be grown in winter, as well as fruit trees, such as apricot, fig, quince, and pomegranate, providing a pleasing dietary variety."

"The graves on the north side of the cemetery come into view. These are also burials from the early twentieth century. Any evidence of mission-era graves was destroyed long ago by weather, treasure hunters, and cattle. Toward the end of the nineteenth century the cemetery was used as a corral during cattle drives and roundups. Families who moved into the area around 1900 knew it as campo santo (holy ground) and used it once again to bury their dead. Juanita Alegria's grave is the last burial (1916) and the only one which has been identified."

mortuary chapel ~ 16' in diameter

"Five hundred ninety-three burials were recorded at Tumacácori between 1755 and 1825. The location of the "old cemetery" associated with the Jesuit church is unknown. Thirty-six burials were registered by Father Ramón Liberós between 1822 and 1825 in this, the "new cemetery." María Teresa 26 Gutiérrez, a Pima child "some five years of age," was the first. Perhaps she was a victim of one of the terrible epidemics of smallpox or measles that swept through the missions. A few were killed during Apache raids. Records from 1825 to 1848 when Tumacácori was abandoned have never been found."

mission wall built in 1770s

niches held the 14 stations of the cross

rain spout on the wall of the church

the church was abandoned in 1848

1937 addition that houses the museum

and visitor center

sidewalk bricks in front of the visitors' center

Father Kino also started San Xavier del Bac, another Tumacácori Mission closer to Tucson. San Xavier is a working mission as well as a National Historic Park. We have visited it several times.

Meet & Greets

Meet & Greets are a generalized term for small geocaching events. These small gatherings are a fabulous way to meet fellow geocachers, get advice, share ideas, put a face to a name, thank or curse a geocache owner, celebrate a special day, brag and be humbled. We attended 16 events in 2013 before I attempted to host my own.

The first event we attended was a gathering of more than 500 people in Yuma AZ. Most of those 16 events in 2013 were rather small affairs in Watertown with 5 or 6 attending. We attended several in the Black Hills and arranged camping trips around them that summer. We also attended one in Plymouth MN when visiting OFD. Except for the local events, we knew no one at the other events. Since those first non-local gatherings we have met some of those geocachers at other events, expanding our geocaching acquaintances.

The first event I hosted was in Watertown to say goodbye to the local cachers who were a great help to us our first year.

Three geocachers attended. Thankfully, one brought his family for the breakfast event, making it look like a gathering of people.

The next event I scheduled was November 6, 2013 to celebrate a geocache on the space mission and space station. Those who attended received a virtual souvenir. (Remember, geocachers get figurative, not hands-on compensations.) Over 90 people attended that event in Apache Junction AZ to get this souvenir:

Let's just say the business establishment was as overwhelmed as I was at the turnout for happy hour. I hosted 7 more events (none with more than 60 attending) that winter while in AZ and attended 24 others, including another mega event in Yuma. 

We were in the Chicago area in June 2014 when another special day in the geocaching world was occurring. 

Since I did not see an event we could attend, I hosted again. This time in the parking lot of the hotel where we were staying. 

I was super excited because two guys from England were traveling in the area and came to the event and a geocacher from New Zealand was in Chicago for work and he attended my June event. I hosted two more events, one in Milbank and the other in Watertown in 2014. We attended a total of 61 events in our first two years of geocaching. 

2015 started with a January event in Watertown before we headed to AZ. An event in Mexico was added to the Yuma mega event, so we added our first foreign country event. About 100 people were there. We also attended an event in Colorado Springs on our way home that spring. I hosted my first Cache In, Trash Out event in conjunction with Keep Watertown Green and Earth Day. 

We also attended 7 events in Minnesota that summer before our month-long adventure to Washington. I scheduled an event in Idaho and one near Mt. Rainer, Washington on that trip. While in Portland OR, we attended an event hosted by a group of geocachers from France. That is important because we met one of them while geocaching in Paris. He remembered meeting us in Portland. But that is another worthy blog post. We added 57 events in 2015, two more mega events and more gatherings in NE, IA, and MN. 2015 ended with my New Years Eve day event in Watertown.

2016 included attending geocaching gatherings in AZ, SD, CO, and MO. Highlights included an event in the Black Hills for a virtual souvenir, three mega events (AZ, CO & MO) and an event I hosted for a special geo day. 

International Geocaching Day

There were no international guests at the event, but in attendance were a geocacher from NJ who was hitchhiking across the US and another geocacher from CA who was visiting his son who lived about 100 miles away from Watertown.

I thought about hosting some events while in Europe this past December, but was not certain of our timeline in each city AND playing tourist took precedence over geocaching. 

We added 33 events in 2016. 

All of this is leading up to the geocaching event I hosted this week. It was a chilly 54º on the patio and a light wind was making it feel even cooler. I have a faithful group of geocachers who attend my events in Apache Junction. Some of them have an hour-long drive. 

Celebrating Macintosh Computer Day

152 events attended since August 2012

27 events hosted 

Why do we do it? 

For the camaraderie. 

The food is good, but the company is better. 

The Final County

Tuesday was another geocaching road trip. We headed south to Santa Cruz county, our last of the 15 Arizona counties in which we have found a geocache.

I 19 south out of Tucson

one of our first caches south of Tucson

at least 7 crosses placed beside the very busy road

in Sahuarita

date of 2003

we wondered if it was a car accident involving

a number of young people

no graves, just memorials

snow on them that' hills

heading south to Nogales

grazing horses near another cache

local hangout in Amado

titled "Secret Cemetery"

small cemetery not visible from I 19

south of Otero AZ

loved ones not forgotten

cemetery was near the produce transfer warehouses

a dozen or so companies getting produce from Mexico

refrigerator trucks waiting to leave warehouses 

solar panels near Nogales

another small 'secret' cemetery along I 19

a short life

this cactus was growing in the 16 Mile Cemetery

have never seen one like it before

unusual

only 13 days old 

another community north of Nogales

a short stop in Tubac on the way home

didn't check the prices

colorful outdoor wall decor

a rainbow to the northeast on the way home

looking to the southwest along I 10

beautiful ending to a successful day

Another 350 miles but an awesome day. 26 geocaches. An 11 hour day. And a stop at a mission...the next blog post.