A beautiful new park in the Rivermark neighborhood.
Father Tomas de la Pena arrived on the banks of the Guadalupe
River on January 7, 1777. Here he built a temporary shelter along a
small rivulet near the larger river and five days later, on January
12th, founded Mission Santa Clara. Father Pena named this first
site, Mission Santa Clara de Thamien, as the area in which it was
founded was called Thamien by the Native Americans who
inhabited the region. Later, in 1784, with the dedication of the
third mission site the name was changed to Mission Santa Clara de
Asis. This park site is within the area known as
Thamien.
My apartment is just up the street from here, adjacent to the
Ulistac Nature Preserve. I've watched them build this park, then
keep it fenced off for months. I actually hid the cache in early
December 2005, when the park appeared to be complete. Little did I
realize that the fences would remain for over two more months!
I sure like the rubberized surface under the play area. I wish
they had those when I was growing up. It would have saved me a few
hard knocks
Note that all Santa Clara parks close 1/2 hour after sunset so
please only hunt this cache during the day. And bring a kid with
you so you don't look so out of place