driving from orange county to austin (El Paso, Kerrville: hotels, malls, airport)

[Austin97]

If you were driving from orange county, CA to austin, what route would you take?

Is it best to just do I10 all the way?

[S6Sputnik]

I would say so. unless you are close to San Diego then I-8 across SoCal and Arizona could be a shorter/faster choice

At Kerrville you should go north to Fredricksburg and then East to Austin on 290

[austin-steve]

I've done this drive quite a few times (though many years ago and to/from San Diego mostly) and always stuck to I10 to Hwy 290. It's boring and predictable.

Coming from CA, I would normally try to make it past El Paso and stay over night in Ft. Stockton. That's about 14 hours the first day if you keep moving and don't waste time with too many long stops. It leaves a nice shorter 5 or 6 hour drive the second day into Austin which lets you sleep in, get some breakfast, and enjoy the nice Hill Country drive, maybe stop in Fredericksburg for a meal.

Steve

[mark311]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

I've done this drive quite a few times (though many years ago and to/from San Diego mostly) and always stuck to I10 to Hwy 290. It's boring and predictable.

Yes, I just drove this route to California and back over Christmas and New Year's. It's pretty boring once you get through Phoenix. It's not the most scenic route, but it's the quickest. You should plan on staying the night somewhere between Las Cruces and East of El Paso. I normally just stay at one of the hotels by the El Paso airport whenever I make this drive now. The hotels seem a bit safer to me than the ones right on the 10 when I'm traveling with a car load of stuff or other people. They're just up the hill a bit from the freeway. There's also a couple of malls to walk around in there in El Paso to stretch your legs.

[Phisch]

We did this drive last June. Same route and yes, it's boring until you get into Texas

The nice thing is that the speed limit does go up in some parts so that makes it a bit easier but you do have to be careful going through the small towns.

Also be very aware during the dusk/dawn and evening hours for deer on the 290! Several on this forum kindly mentioned that before our move and we were fortunate to avoid those hours during our drive from I10 to 290. However, we have friends who visited and drove without stopping from Orange County and got to 290 at 2 or 3 a.m. They weren't on the 290 very long when they hit a 5-pt buck. He said he probably could have avoided it if he were driving in the fast lane.