Our first stop of the day was Padre Island National Seashore. This is only the second National Seashore we have been to (Point Reyes, north of San Francisco) and unfortunately it didn’t make us want to rush to see another one. Mainly what was most disappointing was the lack of activities to do and lack of any interpretation outside of the visitor center.

Basically it preserves the largest undeveloped barrier island in the world. The most common thing to do is walk along the beach that is accessible from the visitor center. Due to recent weather, the bird viewing opportunities were minimal but we did get to see lots of pelicans as well as some shorebirds. And seeing the Gulf of Mexico was neat.

This seashore is known for protecting the endangered sea turtle but of course this is the wrong time of year to see them. We enjoyed a nice walk along the beach watching birds eating at the waters edge and ghost shrimp making air holes in the sand. We spent about an hour and a half here before heading on to Brownsville, TX and our next NPS site.

A short three hour drive south brought us to Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site, one of the first battles in the Mexican-American War. The visitor center is decent with good use of quotes from both sides of the battle. There is a 15 minute video which is a must see to get a good understanding of what happened here. Without it the battlefield trail would not have made any sense.

There is a battlefield loop trail that leaves from the back of the visitor center. We were challenged to figure out what was going on as the signs and map provided were confusing and inaccurate to what the movie said. We got it straightened out when we realized the map the ranger had given us was outdated. It did not include the spur trail that took us to closer view of where the Mexican troops were stationed. It also did not include the unfinished spur trail to the American troops location.

We completed the loop trail and was fairly disappointed with the lack of interpretation along the trail. We have been to many battlefields and the interpretation is always what makes the experience more meaningful. Once back at the car we decided to drive a little further to Edinburg instead of of staying in Harlingen.

We found a pretty decent Comfort Inn and had dinner at Pizza Hut. We got ice cream to take back to the hotel and watched the Alamo Bowl. Kim enjoyed a relaxing bath in a huge tub before we hit the hay for an early rise. It was one of the better nights of the trip.

That’s probably because our comfort level with these trips has dramatically increased. It’s also, frankly, probably a product of better gear. And by better gear, I mostly mean my iPhone 3G, which affords us internet access while we drive in the car. That’s incredibly useful – heck, we planned, researched, and reserved everything we needed for our big summer trip across the South on it – and so it feels like we don’t quite need to be as prepared as we often are.

It’s also due to fact that we’re getting by with much less gear, especially for camping, that we used to bring. And we could probably further cut down on what we’re bringing, if only I we had enough time to think about it and make the necessary eliminations.

Finally, I know that Kim’s put quite a bit of time in trip planning. And she’s getting pretty good at it. We’re both mostly on the same page when it comes to roadtrip decisions, and I felt more comfortable this time around letting her pick hotels and routes without any involvement. Speaking of itineraries, here’s what we have planned:

Dec 24 – Depart Phoenix, drive to El Paso to see Chamizal National Memorial, continue on to camp at Big Bend National Park.

Dec 25-26 – Spend both days seeing Big Bend (and the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River that runs through it), camping these nights as well.

Dec 27 – Depart Big Bend, hit Amistad National Recreation Area, and continuing driving southeast, staying at an EconoLodge in a town called Harlingen.

Dec 28 – Drive to Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site, then visit Padre Island National Seashore, camping there or nearby somewhere.

Dec 29 – Drive to Big Thicket National Preserve, explore the park, and find somewhere nearby to camp.

Dec 30 – Head into San Antonio to see San Antonio Missions National Historic Park, adding a stop at – what else – The Alamo. Stay in an EconoLodge in the city.

Dec 31 – Finish up San Antonio, drive up to the Lyndon B Johnson National Historic Site, and then over to Austin to spend New Year’s Eve and part of New Year’s Day. Stay in a Days Inn.

Jan 1 – Explore Austin a bit more before hitting the road and driving back west. Camp somewhere near Fort Davis.

Jan 2 – Visit Fort Davis National Historic Site and drive to Guadalupe Mountains National Park where we’ll camp for the night.

Jan 3 – Finish up Guadalupe Mountains and high-tail it back to Phoenix, arriving late.

Jan 4 – Rest, relax and unpack before starting back at work on Monday, or…finish driving home if we haven’t kept to our schedule.

It should be a good time. We’ll add eleven National Park Service units to our lifetime total, and more importantly, complete all of the units in Texas. That will make only the seventh state we’ve completed (Nevada, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Tennessee, and Kentucky are the others), though we’re only one or two units away from finishing Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Indiana, and Missouri (not including Eastern and Midwestern states with only one or two units).

We’ll try to keep the blog updated, but with so few nights of guaranteed wifi, that may not happen that frequently. However, you can check out Scott’s tweet’s here and Kim’s tweets here for shorter updates, as well as some summary posts right here.

Scott’s also posted a map of our route and a quick explanation of why we chose this roadtrip.