Driving from Phoenix to Houstion? (Marana: hotels, house, to buy)

[KarmaPhx]

Any tips? Google says it's an 18 hour drive, does that sound right?

I noticed it takes me along the mexican border for a while, I assume I will encounter check points? Will this slow me down?

[asufan]

I've done it a few times. I never encountered any border checkpoints. I usually leave early, have a late lunch in either Las Cruses, NM, or El Paso, TX, which are about 30 minutes apart. After El Paso there is virtually nothing for hours. Then I stop in Ft. Stockton, TX (stay at the Hampton Inn, the other hotels are much older). After Ft. Stockton there's not much of anything until San Antonio. One of the most boring drives you will ever encounter. West Texas is not especially interesting.

[Ritchie_az]

I believe there's one check point in New Mexico, but it shouldn't slow you down more than a couple minutes. (There might be one in Texas, too, but my memory is a bit fuzzy on this).
I recommend spending the night in either Las Cruces or El Paso. The drive can be done in one day, but it makes for one long, miserable, tiring day. Break it in two if you can.
Make sure your car is in good repair, and bring extra water and supplies just in case.
In Texas, the left lane on freeways is for passing only (except in cities). I got a nice ticket outside El Paso for this. I guess they'd prefer you weave back and forth around cars.
There's construction on the I-10 from Picacho Peak to Marana.
Think about what time of day you'll be traversing through El Paso, San Antonio and arriving Houston. You don't want to be in any of those cities during rush hour.
It's a long stretch between El Paso and San Antonio. Bring lots of CDs and/or audio books.

If you need a few ideas of what to do while in Houston, I can help with that.
Otherwise, good luck and be safe.

[Robert A]

No advice, but this sounds like an awesome, epic drive.

[OurNextAdventure]

There should be no open check points. I pass through there all the time going from Fort Hood to home roughly 2-3 times a year. Never got stopped for a check point. Driving through I10 across Texas is the most boring drive I have ever done. Make sure you have plenty of music and food, because the food selection sucks. I stopped at a Burger King in Stockton I think it was, and they had to buy the ice for the ice dispenser from the gas station up the road.

It is a very long drive. There is nothing out there to look at, especially at night. Be careful where you stop to sleep. I always sleep in my truck. If you choose this method, bring a sleeping bag. It gets VERY COLD out in the middle of the desert.

If you leave Arizona early in the morning, you can make it to El Paso if you drive for a long long time. I usually drive for about 13 hours before stopping. Though being in the military long hours is almost an every day occurrence.

Pay attention to road signs when you pass through El Paso. last Spring/Summer (2008) a buddy of mine was PCSing out of the country, and was on his way home to California to drop off his car and all his stuff. He accidentally drove over the Bridge of the America's while looking for somewhere to eat, and had 2 guns in his trunk. He turned around before getting to the check point, but was pulled over by the border guards. Long story short, he spent 6 weeks in Juarez prison. True story.

The speed limit between El Paso and San Antonio is 80 MPH, unless it has changed. I haven't made that drive since July 2008. Have fun there if fuel mileage is not your concern. My truck eats diesel fuel like crazy at the RPM required to go that fast, so I never got to enjoy that speed.

[KarmaPhx]

We plan on doing a straight drive, leaving at 4-5am.

[Grannysroost]

The checkpoint in New Mexico is coming back this way, none toward El Paso, we just did the drive a few weeks ago and was about 6 hours with a couple of stops. Not sure what the road # is, but as soon as you get into El Paso, take the Trans Mountain Rd over to the other side of El Paso, it runs over the mountain, through a couple blocks of town, then across the desert past Ft Bliss and runs back in to the freeway (nasty part). Not sure where you need to get off to go the way you want, but I found this a godsend to getting to my kiddos house on that end of El Paso, versus the freeway loop whether rush hour or not... I saw the Bridge to Juarez last summer, was stuck in the wrong lane, barely made it over to escape turning around and going back...

[cmist]

Originally Posted by KarmaPhx

We plan on doing a straight drive, leaving at 4-5am.

Be sure to eat alot of Nodoz! Especially if you dont get alot of sleep the night before to feel refreshed with a 4am wakeup time!

The last time I drove that route, we were going from Phx to Florida, we got to El Paso very quickly it seemed, but somewhere between El Paso & San Antonio it got dark again and I could barely keep my eyes open. I remember being hypnotized by the double yellow lines and fighting off a strong head bobbing sleepiness for a long while.

We did very little planning, figuring TX is a huge state and we could stay at any motel or whatever on the way whenver we got tired, but strangely every single hotel/motel large & small were all booked, so thats why we pushed on and kept driving.

This was several years ago but I can still remember the awful feeling of that drive from Phx, and the stretch from somewhere past El Paso to San Antonio in sleep deprivation mode.

San Antonio to Houston I remember didnt take very long at all...

We ended up collapsing and slept in the parking lot of a hotel in SA, checked in and slept a few hours. After that, I remember Houston was maybe 2-3 hours (complete guess), but still those extra hours were COMPLETELY unbearable to me since we had already wanted to stop a couple hours prior to SA.

Still the whole thing was an adventure and surely not impossible, something fun to look back on, so have fun! Just bring stimulants along to stay awake.

[BestintheWest]

we just did the trip. One checkpoint in New Mexico, about a 5 minute wait, no big deal.

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by KarmaPhx

Any tips? Google says it's an 18 hour drive, does that sound right?

I noticed it takes me along the mexican border for a while, I assume I will encounter check points? Will this slow me down?

Where is Houstion? LOL, I kid I know you mean Houston. I've lived in SA and El Paso and have made trips through Houston from Keesler Air Force Base, MS...it is about a 14-16 hour drive depending on weather and traffic. An incredibly boring drive.