[fendercamp]

Driving from Alabama to Las Vegas, staying two weeks then driving back. If anyone has taken this path from the South to Nevada, I would find value in advice or infomation from your experience. Im starting to reseach car rental/travel issues and cool things to see or do along the way. We want our first "cross country" road trip to be neat life experience. Anything you could offer that you learned, having done this already, I would appreciate hearing about. Thanks, in advance. fendercamp@msn.com

[skinem]

I've done it a few dozen times--lots of different ways to get there.

What interests you? Family type stuff, touristy, what?

[fendercamp]

Just my spouse and I are taking the trip. We've heard about the painted desert...casinos along the way, etc. Any spots we should hit, I'd love to hear. Thanks.

[tijlover]

Just west outside of Kingman, AZ (en route on I40) there's a hoot of town called Overton, an old mining town, which has turned touristy, with an original Old West look and feel to it, with wild burro's roaming the streets (which will stop traffic). You can buy carrots for them in the stores, but be warned: once you feed them, they'll follow and nudge you for the rest of your stay.

You might want to drive through the Hopi Indian reservation, within the Navajo reservation, which is a very cool place to visit. You can also stay there at a motel, experience Indian life. That's NW Arizona.

Flagstaff sits at 7200 feet in altitude. Can snow here from October through May. Hardly ever gets above 85 degrees here, with that altitude.

And 35 miles outside Las Vegas, NW on Hwy 93, sits Mt. Charleston. No, you don't go up to the peak (12000 feet) just to the Lodge at 7700 feet. When it's cooking in the Valley at 110, you can cool off up there at 85. And they have lodgings up there and 2nd houses for the rich of VEgas to escape the heat of the Valley floor. If you like to hike, you can climb up to the top of Mt. Charleston, or to the Meadows, and get awesome views to the West of the Sierra Mountain range, some 200 miles away, in California. At the very top, you can see into Utah, Arizona, Calif. and south, all the way to Mexico.

But even if it's 110 in Las Vegas, take a light coat along with if you go to the top. With wind, it can be chilly even in July.

Enjoy your trip!

[skinem]

I'd second Tijlover's recommendations. Overton's pretty neat.

I'd second either the Hopi or Navajo Rez, northwest New Mexico/northeast Arizona--the so-called "checkerboard reservation." Opportunities for authentic Indian jewelry, blankets, crafts, etc. Get off the freeway to get away from touristy Indian stuff. You can see some neat things, and some rough things--some grinding tough poverty on the rez. Some neat trading posts on the rez, like Farmington, NM area and Window Rock, AZ area.

Lots of Indian ruins in the area, google Canyon de Chelly, Chaco Canyon, Aztec Ruins National Monument, Anasazi Ruins.
Opportunities to see authentic Indian Pueblos in NM--Laguna, Isleta, Acoma (Sky City)--Pueblos, Tribes and Nations

Check out Old Town in Albuquerque--dates back to the 1500s obviously heavy Spanish influence and Indian market where you can practice your bartering skills.

Monument Valley, where so many of the iconic western movies were filmed.

If your taste runs to the kitschy, there's Roswell, NM in SE New Mexico which has done a good job capitalizing on the "UFO Crash", which actually occurred near Corona, NM, in Lincoln County, NM. Lincoln County is the home of Carrizozo, White Oaks (artist community), Capitan (home of Smokey Bear) and Lincoln and Fort Stanton--both Billy the Kid country. Lincoln County=not kitschy. If you're in Lincoln County, may as well go a little further south and see White Sands...both for the dunes and the first a-bomb test site. Check ahead to make sure the test site is open--if I remember right, it's limited access.

Taos and Santa Fe are very artsy, tony places.

Standards, of course, are the Grand Canyon in NW Arizona, Hoover Dam (not far out of LV).

Tourist trap type thing, but still the only place in the country, the "4 Corners", where the states of NM, AZ, UT, and CO come together in such a way that you can put a limb in each of the 4 states at once. (News story a couple of weeks ago about how it was just determined that the real location is about one and a half miles from what has been thought to be the location for decades.)

Not too far north of LV is the "Loneliest Highway", running E/W, Highway 50. Don't know that it's the loneliest (I've seen some in NW Nevada/SE Oregon that I'd put up against it.

San Antonio. TX and it's Riverwalk is nice for some shopping and restaraunts.

There's a few original portions of Route 66, most through towns in AZ and NM that the freeways have bypassed, or are not the "business route" exits off I-40.

While running around in this area off-freeway, pay attention to your gas gauge. It's not like even the remotest parts of the SE, where you're never too, too far from a gas station. You can be a loooooong way from gas here, or from a 24 hour station.
If it's the middle of summer, pay attention to your engines temp. Depending on where you go, especially if you're on the Rez, or going to Indian ruins, you may be running on a lot of dirt road.

Sorry for the stream-of-conscious post--just barely awake this morning! These are places either on the way, or can be made to be on the way!
Hope these ideas get some ideas going for you. I'm sure later I'll remember other places that I should have told you...

Let us know how the trip goes!

[oscottscotto]

Originally Posted by skinem

While running around in this area off-freeway, pay attention to your gas gauge. It's not like even the remotest parts of the SE, where you're never too, too far from a gas station. You can be a loooooong way from gas here, or from a 24 hour station.

Definitely good avice ... especially while in New Mexico (no matter what route) and SW Texas (if you took the I-10 route, which you probably won't). The wife and I drove from Mobile, AL to the Grand Canyon (via Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Phoenix along the way) about two years ago. It was very fun. Personally, I'd recommend exploring Big Bend National Park - but as said - you might not be taking that route. If you get a chance, I'd also recommend Sedona. It's extremely touristy, but man, the absolute beauty by far makes up for it. The two things I mentioned might not be on your radar if you are taking a straight line to Las Vegas and back ... but if you get a chance.

[Huntsville_secede]

Originally Posted by fendercamp

Driving from Alabama to Las Vegas, staying two weeks then driving back. If anyone has taken this path from the South to Nevada, I would find value in advice or infomation from your experience. Im starting to reseach car rental/travel issues and cool things to see or do along the way. We want our first "cross country" road trip to be neat life experience. Anything you could offer that you learned, having done this already, I would appreciate hearing about. Thanks, in advance. fendercamp@msn.com

Good luck

[roger6087]

Originally Posted by tijlover

Just west outside of Kingman, AZ (en route on I40) there's a hoot of town called Overton, an old mining town, which has turned touristy, with an original Old West look and feel to it, with wild burro's roaming the streets (which will stop traffic). You can buy carrots for them in the stores, but be warned: once you feed them, they'll follow and nudge you for the rest of your stay.

You might want to drive through the Hopi Indian reservation, within the Navajo reservation, which is a very cool place to visit. You can also stay there at a motel, experience Indian life. That's NW Arizona.

Flagstaff sits at 7200 feet in altitude. Can snow here from October through May. Hardly ever gets above 85 degrees here, with that altitude.

And 35 miles outside Las Vegas, NW on Hwy 93, sits Mt. Charleston. No, you don't go up to the peak (12000 feet) just to the Lodge at 7700 feet. When it's cooking in the Valley at 110, you can cool off up there at 85. And they have lodgings up there and 2nd houses for the rich of VEgas to escape the heat of the Valley floor. If you like to hike, you can climb up to the top of Mt. Charleston, or to the Meadows, and get awesome views to the West of the Sierra Mountain range, some 200 miles away, in California. At the very top, you can see into Utah, Arizona, Calif. and south, all the way to Mexico.

But even if it's 110 in Las Vegas, take a light coat along with if you go to the top. With wind, it can be chilly even in July.

Enjoy your trip!

The town with the burros is Oatman, AZ not Overton. Overton, NV is a small town near the northwest arm of Lake Mead and the Valley of Fire State Park.

[tijlover]

Pay heed to Skinem's advice on watching the gas gauge and having a reliable car in the romote stretches of the SW.

My car broke down in the Mojave Desert in CA a few years back at 5PM. Between Barstow and VEgas there's this tiny town of Baker, with gas station and no mechanics. I had a big choice to make: tow the car to Las Vegas or to Barstow. Either way, $600!

I was returning from Mammoth Lakes, CA to Las Vegas 4 years ago. Very few towns inbetween. Stopped in the little town of Benson for gas. The attendant started pumping the gas, and after one gallon, she said: Sorry, that's it. We're out of gas! Panicky, I drove very slowly, and barely made it into Pahrump. No gas or water supply in the desert is a recipe for disaster.
And my cell phone wouldn't function out there in those deep valleys around Death Valley.

The Loneliest Road is even scarier and the road to Ely, 250 miles north of Las Vegas. Break down up there and there'll be no choices. Ely, with 5000 residents? They'd be able to fix your car up there? And if desperate, they'd be sure to take advantage of you.

Whenever I do remote stretches out here in the SW now, I rent a car, leave the responsibilities to someone else. Hit a deer on I15 going to Salt Lake City one time at 9pm, was able, with one headlight, to drive into Salt Lake. The rental agent said: Yeah! This happens all the time! What kind of car would you like for a replacement? Ah! What luxury!

[loladooder99]

Well I have driven between the four corners area (newmexico) and alabama alot. I drove through albq nm,amarillo texas,ok city,arkansas,ms,etc. The drive is pretty straight the whole way. There really isn't much to see or do between al-nm. I would say this the two times i drove through ok in june there was always nasty weather so i would not stay there. Oklahoma too has alot of cops through that area so you should obey the speed limit. Have fun with the drive its a long one.