I decided to use my new transit pass and took a ride up to Old Town - the site of California's first mission. There are 21 missions in California spread out over 650 miles along the coast, but since my transit pass doesn't go that far, I doubt I'll get to visit more than 2 or 3.
In my opinion Old Town is probably the least religious mission I've ever seen. It's more like an amusement park filled with mining museums, cantinas, and lots and lots of souvenir shops.
But early in the morning, before all the tourists came out, it was a great place to sketch. I love painting historic old buildings - the more derelict, the better. I found a bench near an old bell tower. It was a cool morning, but the sun was shining and felt good on my back. I could tell when it was getting close to lunch time, though, because more and more people stopped to look over my shoulder or ask if they could take a picture of me painting my picture. I always think this is kind of weird, but then I guess I'm just as guilty of taking souvenir photos, because I took pictures of the guitar player and the ladies making tortillas when I ate breakfast at the cantina.
