San Antonio is very short of caches, so
I looked for a place to created one while visiting recently.
While at one of the Missions located there, I decided that
this would be a good place for a virtual cache. The streets
are a little confusing around this cache which adds to the
difficulty.
The Alamo is also one of the San Antonio
Historic Missions and is the furthest north. This Mission is off
the beaten path and is not as busy as the very popular Alamo. The
correct full name for this location is Mission Nuestra Señora de la
Concepción de Acuña. This mission was named in honor of Our Lady of
the Immaculate Conception and Juan de Acuña, the Marqués de
Casafuerte. The Marqués was Viceroy of New Spain (Mexico) when the
mission was transferred to the San Antonio River area. The NPS
Guide available at the location list the name as Nuestra Señora de
la Purísima Concepción.
Excavation has made it so that you cannot
get to the location from the outside at this time. You can only get
to the proper area between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM Monday thru
Saturday. You can also get to the proper area on Sunday after mass
has been completed. The missions are closed on Thanksgiving,
Christmas Day and New Year's Day. At these listed coordinates you
will be at an iron gated archway door. You may need to walk around
the outside of the Mission to project the proper location you need
to be in to answer the question required. To claim this cache you
must answer this question:
As you stand at this gated doorway of the Mission, how many
steps must you take to go up to the first landing? E-mail your
answer to me, don't post it here even if encrypted. Keep in
mind that my goal here is to make you think about what you are
doing, to make you use your GPS and to go inside and really see
this location.
IMPORTANT
NOTE!!!
All of the San Antonio Missions are ACTIVE Catholic Church Parish
Locations. On Sundays there will be mass (church services) held at
the Mission/Church. You cannot go to the cache on Sunday during
mass, and be respectful of the people that are attending and the
priest and alter boys at the services.
Thanks to the people
of San Antonio for their hospitality while I was there. This is a
very friendly city and I enjoyed my visit. I figured I would create
a virtual cache to give something back to the Geocachers that
placed caches for me to visit. Good Luck and Good
Hiking!
