Driving from So. Cal. (Dallas, El Paso: movers, hotels, theatre)

[SprintRider]

Anyone made the drive? Which route did you take and how many stops? I'm trying to plan how many days I should take driving and where to stop for the night. I'm going to be travelling with a Greyhound dog, so please take that into account. thank's for the help!

[KewGee]

I haven't made the drive in 30 years, so I'm sure things have changed greatly. I wish I could help you, but it was just too long ago. We traveled with two little children at the time and it seems like we stopped overnight twice in motels.

It seems like we took interstate 10 and then in Texas, changed to interstate 20.

Once you hit Texas, it will seem like an eternity until you get to Dallas. It is an unsightly drive, very boring, but eventually, you'll feel like you're back in civilization again and not on the moon.

[Roma]

We drove it.

We drove with 2 dogs, 1 cat, 2 birds and 3 fish. We drove straight through with no overnight stops. We just kept driving!! It took us 25 hours from the coast in Oxnard to just South of Fort Worth.

We rented a RV. It had a kitchen, bathroom, bed etc. We wanted to get there with all these animals as fast as we could. We just stopped for the usual gas fill ups and letting the dogs out to go potty.

We took the southern route. I think it was the 10 to the 40 to the 20.

Good luck

[Guingirl]

We drove it twice in the last six months (actually from Northern California) and will be doing it yet...again...in the next six (moving my Mother in law out).

We went through Barstow, through to I-40 through mirroring Route 66 basically to Amarillo and then came down 287. We stayed in Barstow (I wish we could have stayed somewhere else..but apparently there are only four motels there and they are all seedy), Williams or Flagstaff (the first trip we took a side trip into the Grand Canyon), across Arizona through New Mexico and stayed in Tucumcari, NM, and from there straight into Ft. Worth. It took us four days, but we had our 3 year old both times so we stopped and took our time.

So it will probably take you only 3 days since we had one day just traversing North to South CA. It really was a beautiful drive. Safe travels!!

[socketz]

I've done this drive twice in the past year.

Both times I left around 5am in the morning and stopped in El Paso after about 11-12 hours of driving.

-Breakfast at the AZ/CA border (Yuma)
-Lunch in Tucson
-Dinner in El Paso

The first time I stayed at the Marriot right there near the entrance to the airport. It was nice. However, this last time I stayed at the Hyatt Place which is about 1 mile West and MUCH nicer.....great breakfast in the morning, 50 inch plasma in the recently remodeled rooms....views of the city. Very nice and just $79.

Also, when in El Paso (nice mid-point of the trip), try Carlos and Mickey's that's right there near the hotel. EXCELLENT Mexican food and great environment. It's also a local favorite, so get there early.

As for the dog in tow, I have no idea. As far as I know, no reputable hotel is going to allow a dog to spend the night in your room. You may need to find one of those little motels outside of town and sneak the dog in....

[scyogi]

We just travelled from SC to TX (only a 12 hour trip) with our dog and I was surprised how many Hotels do take dogs. Even fairly decent ones: Staysuites, Holiday Inn, etc.. They all will charge a deposit $25-75 for your stay. On the day the movers showed up we took our dog to Pappy's to spend the next few nights. It was a REALLY nice place to board dogs. They have a few locations in the Dallas areas (Plano, Allen, and Dallas--I think) Good luck with the drive. Our pooch slept most of the way!

[aceplace]

The drive thru Texas on I20 isn't so bad if you stop and play tourist along the way.

For example, Odessa has a replica of the Globe theatre, Midland has an excellent geology and petroleum museum, as well as the Commemorative Air Force museum.

The town of Colorado City has a cute downtown to stop in.

The town of Big Spring has a very unusual feature... a mountain. Well, perhaps not a real mountain, just a very steep hill, but the view from the top is pretty stunning, especially after you've driven thru a lot of flat terrain. It is actually a state park, with picnic tables. You drive up and up around the rim of this thing, and you see half of West Texas spread out before you.

Abilene has a pretty good downtown, an enjoyable zoo, and an historical museum called Fiesta Texas!. It's expensive and well done, like something you'd see in Disneyworld. South of Abilene, you get into some rugged hill country arounf the town of Buffalo Gap and its historic village.

East of Abilene, you descend a steep escarpment into what is now East Texas. The freeway continues on to Dallas, but I prefer getting off the Interstate and going thru the towns... places like Breckinridge, Mineral Wells, Weatherford...

[SprintRider]

Thank's for the suggestions!
People have told me that El Paso may be a bad place to spend the night because there have been a lot of car thefts there. Looks like we may travel from here to Tucson then to Midland and on to Dallas. The last leg will be just over 300 miles, which will get us into Dallas nice and early without a long drive.
From what I've been able to research, it looks like La Quinta takes dogs and there is one in Tucson and Midland.
Any opinions?

[Roma]

Well that sounds good to me. Stop in Tuscan and stay at one of those hotels that takes dogs then in Midland. It sounds like you got it handled.

[SprintRider]

Now if I can only get one of you to do the driving while I sit back and relax!