RoadTrip from Phoenix to Houston (Tucson, Benson: house, tornado, dangerous)

[mikram2k]

I am planning a week long road trip from Phoenix to Houston via I-10 touching Tucson, El-Paso, San Antonio along the way to Houston and back to Phoenix. Has anyone took this road trip? Any advice as per the safety, pit stops, etc. given that I will be traveling with my lilttle kids.

Will appreciate any feedback!!

[musicforme]

Around six years ago my then girlfriend, now wife, and I drove from Phoenix to Dallas which took that same route up until I-10 splits into I-20.

I don't recall there being a lot available for large stretches of road. I'd be sure to pack enough bottle water to last you several hours in case your car were to break down out in the middle of no where.

[MaxPower123]

Originally Posted by mikram2k

I am planning a week long road trip from Phoenix to Houston via I-10 touching Tucson, El-Paso, San Antonio along the way to Houston and back to Phoenix. Has anyone took this road trip? Any advice as per the safety, pit stops, etc. given that I will be traveling with my lilttle kids.

Will appreciate any feedback!!

Just the usual precautions, get your car checked out, make sure your tires are good enough and properly inflated, try to make room for some coolant and a gallon of drinking water, etc.

http://www.wikihow.com/Check-Your-Car-Before-a-Road-Trip
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Car-Emergency-Kit

[Texas Mack]

Reasonable pits stops between Tucson and El Paso:

Benson, AZ
Wilcox, AZ
Lordsburg, NM
Deming, NM
Las Cruces, NM

Reasonable pit stops between El Paso and San Antonio (and these are important, because there are over 500 miles of sparsely developed country side during this long stretch of highway, so pit stops become extremely important):

Fabens, TX
Van Horn, TX
Fort Stockton, TX (I highly recommend a stop here, because it's your best bet to have access to fuel, food, lodging and knick-knacks between El Paso and San Antonio)
Ozona, TX
Sonora, TX
Kerrville, TX

Make sure to have a cell phone, as well, especially after sunset and just after sunrise. Traffic is so light during these times that you could literally stop in the middle of the road for several minutes without seeing another car. So it's good to have some means of communications, should you need it.

Outside of that, enjoy the trip.

[he's so hott]

I agree with Texas Mack. I drove from Houston to Phoenix a couple of years ago and any of the stops listed in T Mack's post are good. We stopped in Fort Stockton TX and then we stopped in Lordsburg, NM for a lunch break and drove all the through to PHX.

[click]

We did the drive 5 times in the last year, as we drive back and forth from NY to Phoenix, from one house to another. We haven't had any trouble at all whatsoever. There are tons of Subways, McDonalds, Bob Evans, Cracklebarrel, Gas, etc. along the whole route on 10. Have fun!

[Design7]

Pitstops for food etc are plentiful along the way. Once you leave New Mexico the terrain becomes flat and boring. I took that route once during hurricane season and was trapped in the worst storm i've ever been in with tornado warnings near El Paso. I was freaked. Other than that have taken it at least once a year--easy travel.

[foma]

I just did it back in March. It's a pretty boring but easy drive. Just be careful on the street between El Paso and San Antonio. It's not dangerous or anything but gas stations are few and far between. Definitely be vigilant about your tank but no need to worry or anything.

Depending on how fast you drive and the part of Phoenix you are coming from, here are approximate times:

Phoenix to El Paso 6 to 8 hours
El Paso to San Antonio 12 hours
San Antonio to Houston 3 hours

The cool thing is you can drive 85mph on that long stretch of I-10 after El Paso and before getting into San Antonio. Pretty Sweet (and gas guzzling of course).

[mikram2k]

All, thanks so much for great feedbacks!!

Prior to this, I had been thinking about alternate routes, as few people made me concerned so much about the saftety due to the route being so remote from the general areas with sizable population.