204 Life in the Open 



of the thirty thousand, or more, head of stock it once 

 owned, even as late as 1827. Near the old crumbling 

 walls are two ancient date palms, which must have been 

 planted in the days of Serra. 



Crossing the bay we roll up the fine road to Co- 

 ronado. San Diego is a delightful country for coach- 

 ing ; there are good roads everywhere and climate of the 

 perfect variety. We go to Tia Juana and cross the 

 line ; then to La Jolla and the home of theosophy ; 

 spend delightful hours in the famous patio and garden of 

 Coronado which may be considered the beginning of 

 El Camino Real in the year of our Lord 1905. They 

 will show you at San Diego the man who came to stay 

 a day and who refused to leave under any circumstances. 

 He telegraphed for his family, and at eighty is growing 

 up with the country. We easily see how it is possible. 



The return to Los Angeles, 127 miles north, is over 

 the King's Highway as near as we can make it, and 

 about forty miles from San Diego we dip down into the 

 opening of a river or caflon in Orange County and fol- 

 low it up to the old Mission of San Juan Capistrano, 

 which stands on high land with the Santiago range be- 

 hind it and lofty cliffs or mesas between it and the sea. 

 We follow the caflon slowly, passing through ranches of 

 walnut and groves of trees, coming out at San Juan with 

 its ranch houses, its quaint inns, and the fine old Mission, 

 half ruin, where one might wish to tarry indefinitely. 

 The Mission was founded in 1776 by Junipero Serra. 

 Of all the ancient piles this appeals most to the poetic 



