Best driving route Phoenix to Wichita

[AndyJ]

US 54 - gas up and eat at Tucumcari, Dalhart, Guymon or Liberal. Meade has a good burger joint, but it'll cost you time. I've driven this route many many times to visit my family in Wichita (from Albuquerque), and it's faster than I-40 through OKC, unless it's bad weather.

[AndyJ]

Originally Posted by Sco

Are they available 24/7? One of my concerns is that I would have to time my trip to make sure to pass through these areas before the town closes for the night. What about Sundays?

The Shell station in Liberal is open 24/7, or at least it was last time I drove through.

[Sco]

Thanks

I have deicded that I will try US54 on the way to Wichita and I40 on the way back. This may be a trip that I make more than once to visit family and that is the only way that I will know for sure. It sucks not being able to fly sometimes.

[AndyJ]

I know the feeling - there are no directs from Albuquerque to Wichita, so I've come to know western Kansas countryside pretty darn well over the years.

[Sco]

I can only hope that the descriptions of the area that I have heard are not 100% accurate. I have a close friend that lived in western KS several years ago and he has nothing good to say about it. In fact he said that after you spend one night in Liberal, an eternity in hell will have lost all impact.

I have the same issue with flights, only one direct that is very expensive and also a problem with my ears that makes flying very painful, my doctor has advised against it entirely. I really just wish that my family would leave Wichita and move west, but they won't.

[KevK]

Originally Posted by Sco

I can only hope that the descriptions of the area that I have heard are not 100% accurate. I have a close friend that lived in western KS several years ago and he has nothing good to say about it. In fact he said that after you spend one night in Liberal, an eternity in hell will have lost all impact.

I have the same issue with flights, only one direct that is very expensive and also a problem with my ears that makes flying very painful, my doctor has advised against it entirely. I really just wish that my family would leave Wichita and move west, but they won't.

Western Kansas is not that bad! It is however nowhere near as good as central and eastern Kansas. In Kansas, the further east you go, the better the state gets. The best county in the state (Johnson) borders missouri. The worst county in the state is Hamilton and other counties that border Colorado. They have smelly meat packing plants and are populated by improverished migrant workers (mostly illegal aliens) that live in dumpy trailer parks.

[rodhale]

I'm new to this, but is 54 4 lanes or 2 and how long would I be on the road mid week next week going from Wichita to down where I pick up the interstate in New Mexico?