Whether we live in the 'burbs or in the urban areas of San Diego, Los Angeles or Peducah, Illinois, we all take for granted the very roads we travel to get to and fro. Some have names that are merely functional. Some by name, alone, tell us where we are. Some roads serve as memorials for those who have fallen to untimely deaths. Some have names steeped in history.

Most of us in San Diego don't think about S10 or S11 when we travel in San Diego's northern parts. These two roads are part of the boundaries for what is known today as El Camino Real or "The King's Highway" or "The Royal Highway."

San Diegans know El Camino Real as that 12 or 13-mile stretch of road from San Elijo Lagoon north to Oceanside/Vista. We know it as the road to Trader Joe's, The Forum at Carlsbad, La Costa, and other day-to-day stops along the way.

Going back to 1769, the Spaniards hit the road marking their turf up the coast of California. El Camino Real was part of the path to the ever growing network of 21 California missions, 3 pueblos and 4 military presidios from California's first mission, San Diego's Presidio, to the last mission in Sonoma County in Northern California The original El Camino Real was a 700-mile long and windy road with enduring historical value.

Though El Camino Real started as dirt foot path, later when rubber hit the road, the surface of the road began to suffer. Like modern day roads, El Camino Real didn't survive without upkeep and by 1900 it basically got kicked to the curb as travel patterns changed and traffic increased. The early AAA made some attempts to recruit a volunteer force to fix the road, but it was just a few years later, when a couple of women, Anna Pitcher and Mrs. A.S.C. Forbes, sounded the bell and valiantly called upon 15 women's clubs to help restore and preserve the El Camino Real.

The women's clubs put the El Camino Real legacy back on the the road to recovery. They pooled their resources to make it their mission to install 85-lb, 17-inch diameter cast-iron bells hanging from 15-foot posts which serves as roadmarkers along the route, across the state, every two-miles marking and preserving the historic route. It's as a clear as a bell that without the efforts of these women's clubs, California would have lost the El Camino Real.

Over the following decades, the bells began to disappear or fall into disrepair leaving about 75 still standing in 1960. The bells had such significance that efforts were brought forth to bring them back again. It became the task of CALTRANS, and with federal and state highway beautification funds, CALTRANS forked over $1.4 million to add about 568 bells to El Camino Real.

El Camino Real - Bell

El Camino Real was saved by the bells. Most of the new bells can be found along Highway 101 between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Today, re-tracing the path of the El Camino Real is not to be. It seems that documentation isn't available to verify the absolute route. However, here's an idea of the points that connected the El Camino Real across California:

(Excerpt) San Diego through Rose Caynon on to Oceanside, then inland to Mission San Luis Rey and Pall from Oceanside to Mission San Juan Capistrano, Tustin, Santa Ana, Orange, Anaheim, Fullerton, LA Habra, Whittier, Mission San Gabriel to El Monte, Puente, Pomona, Claremont, San Bernardino, Redlands, Colton and Riverside. From Los Angeles El Camino Real leads to Hollywood, through Cahuenga Pass to Sherman Way and on to Mission San Freehand. Sherman Way to Calabasas, Camarillo, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Gaviota, Mission Santa Ines, Mission La Purisima, Los Olivos, Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, San Miguel, Jolon, Mission San Antonio, Soledad, Salinas to Monterey and Mission Carmel, or from Salinas to Mission San Juan Bautista, San Jose, Mission San Jose, Hayward, San Leandro, to Oakland from San Jose to Santa Clara, Palo Alto, Redwood City, San Mateo, Colombo, Ocean View to Mission de los Dolores and San Francisco (Market and Third Streets). Across the bay, El Camino Real leads from San Rafael to Mission San Francisco Solano in Sonoma.

Those original Padres, the real Padres ...made it their mission in life to keep the faith! Then, there's the San Diego Padres, San Diego's professional baseball team. We all try to keep the faith for them. But, we digress.

Next time you drive along Highway 101 in California or North San Diego County or El Camino Real (wait for streetview, pan around until you reach the 55 mph sign/El Camino Real Bell)in Encinitas, La Costa, Carlsbad, or Oceanside, take a look at the side of the road and see if you spot the bells. And if you want to take a closer look at the bells, we have a couple of places in San Diego that you can find them.

Del Mar Heights Elementary School in Del Mar - 13555 Boquita Dr. Del Mar - Main Office (not open until mid-August 2009) Why at an elementary school? Del Mar Heights Elementary wanted a bell to teach the children about the old California mission history.

The San Diego Women's Club placed bells at what has become Horton Plaza Horton Plaza - To find it, while facing Horton Plaza look to the right of the water fountain. Bells tend to be rung for celebrations and triumphs. The El Camino bells remind of us of California's past and the long mission legacy of Padre Junipero Serra, who founded the first mission in California, right here in San Diego. Mission accomplished.