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Day of the Dead Couple LbNA #42748

Owner:Mas
Plant date:Aug 13, 2008
Location: Mission San Luis Rey
City:Oceanside
County:San Diego
State:California
Boxes:1
Found by: AntHilarie
Last found:Aug 8, 2020
Status:FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Last edited:Aug 13, 2008
The Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos in Spanish) is a holiday celebrated mainly in Mexico and by people of Mexican heritage (and others) living in the United States and Canada.

The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and relatives who have died. The celebration occurs on the 1st and 2nd of November, in connection with the Catholic holy days of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day which take place on those days.

Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, and using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed.

Many people believe that during the Day of the Dead, it is easier for the souls of the departed to visit the living. People will go to cemeteries to communicate with the souls of the departed, and will build private altars, containing the favorite foods and beverages, and photos and memorabilia, of the departed. The intent is to encourage visits by the souls, so that the souls will hear the prayers and the comments of the living directed to them.

Celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember funny events and anecdotes about the departed.

Clues:
Go to the Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside located at 4050 Mission Ave. Park in one of the lots located near the cemetery side of the mission. Head in a westerly direction and find the former soldier’s barracks that are now adobe ruins surrounded by a fence. Continue to walk in the same direction, past a gate until you reach the archways that bring you into the lavandaria (http://www.sanluisrey.org/museum/lavanderia).

The lavandaria is open from 9:30 to 4pm. Check out the gargoyle faces that once provided water for washing and bathing. Make your way up to the former kiln area. Go to the top of the kiln and take a look inside if you like large, deep holes. When you’re done looking down, look behind and see the old adobe wall that is covered in opuntia cactus that runs along the back perimeter of the lavandaria. Standing with your back to the kiln, walk to where the wall ends on the right side. Carefully, reach just behind and find the happy couple under an adobe brick and covered in pine needles. Retrieving this box may be easier if you squat low to avoid the cactus thorns (they seem to want to grab anything that comes close to them).

*Please be discreet if other people are milling about (take the box to another spot while you stamp it). Please replace the box exactly where and how you found it, covered with pine needles and the brick.

Bring your own ink pad and pen.