Last night’s Walmart has designated RV parking.  Thanks!

This little fellow was hitching a ride on the RV:

Our first stop of the day was the Mission San José unit of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park:

They grew them big out here:

The mission courtyard was ringed by housing which doubled as a defensive wall:

Some of the original plaster and paint from 1768 still remains:

We checked out the mission’s grist mill, the oldest in Texas:

The kids completed their Junior Ranger books and received their badges:

We left the RV at the visitor center and drove the truck to downtown San Antonio to visit the Mission San Antonio de Valero, more commonly known as The Alamo.  Here, 200 Texian defenders fell before Santa Anna and his 1,800 troops:

No interior photography was allowed, unfortunately.  After touring the site, we drove back to the RV, hitched up and continued driving west to overnight at the Walmart of Del Rio, Texas.  See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

This morning we said goodbye to Rick:

M’s Junior Ranger banner, the second one Trish made on this trip, is now full:

We drove west, entering Alabama:

Alabama’s coastal region is not that wide, so we soon entered Mississippi:

We soon arrived at the visitor center for Gulf Islands National Seashore:

The visitor center is quite nice:

We walked out to the shore, where we could see the gulf islands along the horizon:

Anything that stands still gets overtaken by vines:

The kids completed their Junior Ranger books and received their badges:

We wanted to visit a pair of NPS sites in New Orleans, but they’re closed tomorrow for Thanksgiving, so we continued on to overnight at a Walmart near Baton Rogue, Louisiana.  See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.