As previously mentioned, the US Virgin Islands consists of three main islands, and a bunch of minor ones. We were staying on Saint Thomas, but another highlight of this trip was to cross off another national park, in our goal to visit all of them. The nearby island of Saint John mostly consists of the Virgin Islands National Park.
It is possible to take a passenger ferry over to the island, and walk to the park visitor center, and explore the town of Cruz Bay (where the ferry docks), but we wanted to explore more of the park, which is best done by car. So we headed to the car ferry dock.
Here’s a car ferry loading; the cars all back on, to make it easier to drive off at the other side:
This park was established fairly recently, in 2015, and is quite small. It consists of just a visitor center and a shelter over a dig site with several mammoth fossils.
We stayed for five nights in the horseshoe full hookup campground and really liked it. We were originally going to stay longer but adjusted our travel plans to avoid the ice storm that blew through the area in February. Stupid storm, I would have loved to stay here longer. Our site was a decent size pull-through with plenty of room for our 40′ motorhome and tow vehicle. The width of the site was incredibly large with a fire ring and concrete picnic table all nestled under mature trees with a view across a large grassland area. We camped at Lake Whitney State Park in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: About an hour’s drive to Waco to visit the Dr Pepper Museum and Waco Mammoth National Monument, both worth the trip.
An interactive map of the park:
The map; our site was in the Horseshoe Camping Loop in the lower-right corner of this map:
Our site:
The utilities were not very conveniently located, at the front of site:
The sewer was unthreaded, but someone had helpfully left a bungee there, which I used to secure the pipe:
A look at the utilities from the rear; the power cord was pretty much fully unwound:
Unwound power reel; unusual to need the full length of the cord:
Camp hosts cleaning the neighboring site:
Other sites:
I flew my drone to capture some aerial shots of our coach, site, the park, and the lake:
We visited The Alamo while in San Antonio. It is a site of great significance in the history of Texas. It started as a mission in 1718, and is best known for the 1836 Battle of the Alamo.
Here’s a GIF of a series of relief maps, showing how it grew and changed over the years:
The courtyard in front of the Alamo church:
Statues:
The Alamo:
We took a guided tour, which was great to learn lots about the history:
We each had a device with an earpiece, so the guide could more easily talk to us:
Drawing of the mission:
A statue of a guy who lived in that house, and who defended the Alamo:
Monument:
James Butler Bonham and James Bowie:
Burke Trammel and David Crockett:
A cannon:
Heading inside the The Alamo church:
The church is just one part of the mission:
As part of a guided tour, we got to go into a room that isn’t open to the general public:
We arrived before dark, so there were still some animals awake:
A carousel:
We had some dinner:
Then wandered around some more:
Some holiday lights coming on as the sun set:
A band:
Artwork:
It was a fairly small zoo, not particularly impressive. Notable for opening the first cageless exhibits in the US. Though it looks like much of it hasn’t been updated recently.
We rode our bikes between the four missions, starting at Mission Concepcion in the north. Here’s the approximate route on an interactive map (we diverted from this a little; see the actual route in the video at the end):
