Roadtrip Las Vegas to Houston to Kansas to Las Vegas (Phoenix: place to live, restaurants)

[firsttimeroadtripper]

Hi guys,

Were a couple of Aussies, trying to plan our first US Roadtrip.
We'll be arriving in the US mid January - Not looking forward to the cold.

Our current rough itinerary is as follows

Las Vegas
Grand Canyon AZ
Flagstaff AZ
Sedona AZ
Phoenix AZ
Tucson AZ
Tombstone AZ
Las Cruces NM
______________

we have recently added the following to travel through Texas, Oklahoma & Kansas
Not sure which Cities/Towns are worth visiting, so i have just picked a few of the main
ones to work out travel time to allow. (Open to Suggestions on whats worth seeing)

San Antonio
Houston
Dallas
Tulsa
Kansas City
______________

Albuquerque
Cortez/Durango
Monument Valley via Shiprock
Page
Zion NP
Las Vegas

Please feel free to make route change suggestions and let us know what we should see.
Were doing a majority of the national parks (Grand Canyon, Saguaro, White Sands NM, Mesa Verde, Valley of the Gods, Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, Zion etc)

TIA.

[HTY483]

Originally Posted by firsttimeroadtripper

San Antonio
Houston
Dallas
Tulsa
Kansas City

Do you have friends in these cities to make the visit worthwhile? Nothing in any of the above cities makes them worth visiting. I know first hand that KC is a great place to live and raise a family but I would not ever choose it as a vacation destination.

Sounds like you will already be out west so why not take a trip over to San Diego, then maybe head down to Rocky Point, SN, Mexico?

Or better yet, start in Ensenada, Mexico and drive all the way up to Vancouver, BC, Canada. Stop in San Diego, L.A., San Francisco, the Redwood Forest. Do some skiing/snowboarding in Bend, OR. Go skiing/snowboarding again at Whistler Blackombe.

[cre8lite]

must see:
jerome, az
oak creek canyon, az


if you were visiting during the summer, i would include this on your trip:
Arizona State Parks: Tonto Natural Bridge: Home
but they are not open in the winter


parowan gap, ut
Parowan Gap Petroglyphs | Utah.com


kanab, ut
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park | Utah State Parks


have a great trip!!!

[eastontracks]

although theres some cool spots in texas, its definitely not worth the drive. even new mexico is kinda stretching it. instead of going east, go west! youre in prime location, take a road trip hangover movie style down I15 to LA, or san diego.

imo, its better to do something like, vegas to LA then LA to phoenix, then phoenix up to flagstaff then back to vegas. any parks near those routes side track and visit. only cold winter youll experience is in flagstaff.

[coolbeans2000]

Don't mean to be harsh. But that sounds like a terrible and incredibly uninteresting road trip. To come all the way to the US and only visit all those mediocre cities and miss out on our greatest attractions would be a total waste and shame.

Instead, why not fly into and visit San Francisco then road trip along Big Sur, then check out Yosemite National Park, then onto Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, then tour Los Angeles. From there spend a short time in Vegas, then definitely visit Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks then onto Canyon Lands and Arches National Parks, monument valley and finally the Grand Canyon.

Not sure what the temps are in January. But am sure will be very cold. I love the parks in Southern Utah in the off season, you'll miss the heat, enjoy better scenery and practically have the parks to yourselves. Just keep in mind that certain national parks close certain roads and visitor centers during the Winter. Just do a little research ahead of time so you know what which parts of the parks will be accessible.

If you really want it to be a epic road trip, continue on to Colorado. Telluride all the way.

If you ever come back to the US, fly into Seattle and visit all the other great and radically different attractions that the Pacific Northwest offers. Olympic National Park, Oregon Coastline, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, Portland Oregon, Seattle Washington, Vancouver BC Canada etc etc

[sargeant79]

Originally Posted by firsttimeroadtripper

Hi guys,

Were a couple of Aussies, trying to plan our first US Roadtrip.
We'll be arriving in the US mid January - Not looking forward to the cold.

Our current rough itinerary is as follows

Las Vegas
Grand Canyon AZ
Flagstaff AZ
Sedona AZ
Phoenix AZ
Tucson AZ
Tombstone AZ
Las Cruces NM
______________

we have recently added the following to travel through Texas, Oklahoma & Kansas
Not sure which Cities/Towns are worth visiting, so i have just picked a few of the main
ones to work out travel time to allow. (Open to Suggestions on whats worth seeing)

San Antonio
Houston
Dallas
Tulsa
Kansas City
______________

Albuquerque
Cortez/Durango
Monument Valley via Shiprock
Page
Zion NP
Las Vegas

Please feel free to make route change suggestions and let us know what we should see.
Were doing a majority of the national parks (Grand Canyon, Saguaro, White Sands NM, Mesa Verde, Valley of the Gods, Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, Zion etc)

TIA.

I agree with others in that adding a Texas/Oklahoma/Kansas City leg to your trip isn't really worth it. San Antonio and Austin are decent enough cities, and Dallas has it's spots that are okay I guess. But I can't think of any good reasons to go to Tulsa and Kansas City unless you're just interested in seeing the midwest/plains for the sake of doing it. In general, I'm not sure any of that is worth the sizeable distance you're going to be taking on by making those stops.

Others have said California and I would highly recommend re-directing your focus in that direction. If I was a first-timer in the US, I'd want to hit up LA and San Diego, plus some of the central coastal areas if you have time. If you do wind up going east into Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, I'd suggest taking I-70 back through Denver. Besides Denver being a fairly cool city, the drive back into Utah through the Rockies is spectacular. If you veer off the interstate in Utah and head south on US-191, you'll run through Moab, UT, where I'd highly recommend you make a stop in for a few days. Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Dead Horse Point State Park are three of my favorite national/state parks, and all three are within an hour or so from Moab.

[agorski]

I used to drive regularly between Houston and Prescott. Las Cruces is a good place to spend the night and there's great New Mexican food to be had there. The long stretch from there to San Antonio is brutal. Van Horn is a terrible place to stop (only a couple of restaurants) and Ft. Stockton is nothing special.