Remember the Alamo!

During our stay at Canyon Lake, we had wanted to visit the Alamo and the other San Antonio missions. Since we were there really only one day, and I was exhausted, we didn't get to do that until the day we headed to Padre Island. At that point, they said there was no real parking for large vehicles and RVs and such. So we skipped it, with much sorrow. Now that we're in Kerrville, only an hour away from San Antonio (in the other direction from Canyon Lake), we tried again, without our trailer in tow. The missions are gorgeous. I'm so glad we made it.

Tree at San Jose

Bill at the San Jose Mission

The visitor's center is at the San Jose mission, so that was our first stop. We took the loop through the museum to read up on what we were visiting, and then headed out in the cold blast that Texas is experiencing right now. We spent about an hour and a half at the first mission, which left us with little time to spend at the other missions. After lunch, we headed to Mission Concepcion, which is a great one to check out since so much of it is the original work. San Jose is mostly restored, Concepcion is mostly original.

Stairs at Concepcion

Concepcion

I really loved the ironwork at Concepcion. It really is just beautiful. And the churches at the missions are still used today as diocesan churches. Which led, for me, to the awkwardness of taking a touristy approach to a sacred spot. But I'm glad we got to visit and that the missions are a part of the National Park Service.

The Alamo

The Alamo, for me, was the least exciting. Anticlimactic, in fact. It's in the heart of San Antonio, surrounded by the Ripley's tourist attractions, hotels, and other such establishments. There was a long line to get in, because they only let a certain number in at a time, so we missed out on the interior. We did get to walk around San Antonio, though, and check out some of the stores along the way.

While at the campground, we've been working on organization. I've re-done the kitchen/pantry, a couple of kids have added organization to their closet shelf, and Bill's got some better organization going on in the van. We'll have all the kinks worked out by the time this trip ends!