Driving from Miami to Los Angeles

[DOUBLE H]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

Will you be anywhere near Carlsbad Caverns?

While the Sonora Caverns might not be as awesome as Carlsbad Caverns, they are still worth the stop. It's west of town just off exit 392. Sonora is east of Ozona about 25 miles. You also have some interesting state historical sites; Fort McKevitt, Fort Lancaster, and the Davy Crockett Monument. I've only spent the night in Ozona once, but had a good nights stay and had some great Mexican food (restaurant name escapes me.)

About two hours west of Ozona is one very interesting place on the subject of astronomy, and that is the McDonald Observatory. That will take a little time as the state road off I-10 is rather a windy one in spots as you are going through the Barrilla mountains (yes, there are mountains in Texas) And you have another historical site and this one is national -Fort Davis. El Paso is a couple more hours west and Jasper 12 makes a good point regarding gas availability. You have a lot of miles between west Texas towns, it's a long haul for sure. Back to McDonald real quick, it is one cool place to visit-pull up their website!

Going through New Mexico you don't really have a lot to stop for, pretty much desert but the Florida and Cedar mountain ranges are pretty in their own way. A couple interesting ghost towns are in the Lordsburg area, the one worth stopping is called Steins, it sits right off the highway. Lordsburg is affectionately known as "the other ghost town", by the locals. There ARE a few hundred people living there, sadly the town doesn't have a lot going on there but gas stations and motels. It's an old railroad town that sadly has seen its better days.

I'll comment on Arizona later. Through the route I've described I've moteled on varying trips in Segovia (truck stop motel), Junction, Ozona, Ft. Stockton, Van Horn, El Paso, Las Cruces, Deming, and Lordsburg. Met friendly folks along the way, never had any problems.


ADD!--I forgot to give a mention on the above quote-Carlsbad Caverns National Park. It is simply one of the crown jewels of the National Park System, pure and simple. Ive been there 5 times with friends over 4 decades and I love southeast New Mexico. I'm not sure if their website has a slide show but it should show you enough to make it a full one day stay. Get off 285 at the Ft. Stockton exit. Pecos is an hour, Carlsbad another hour, the Caverns are 30 miles southwest of town. If you decide to make this a part of th trip, call for motel rates before you go. There's been a lot of road construction and energy drilling going on there, should be wrapped up by now but motels were in high demand and pricy last Fall.

[Sterling Steve]

nice information thank for providing it a very good planning best of luck and enjoying travel

[karl_hemingway]

Thanks for the info guys! This will be the trip of lifetime for me!

[DOUBLE H]

Meant to get back to this thread and forgot. Sorry!

I've always like the desert mountains of Arizona, how they are at the end of the horizon, they're not very high, but they roll on and on and on...

And that's what they do on I-10 as you get past the beautiful rock cliffs west of the Peloncillo mountains at the New Mexico/Arizona border. About 45 miles west of the border is Willcox. Not a real big tourist destination but I've been to one function they have down there and done it in two different years-"Rex Allen Days." Allen had a storied career in movies along with guys like Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Tex Ritter, and Bob Wills. Rex Allen Days is generally after Labor Day weekend and gets in a good crowd. Several acts, current country and older country acts perform. Allen passed several years ago, but the festival still goes on, his son Rex keeps the thing alive. I had Rex Sr. autograph several album covers I brought along. And he loved to talk about those recording sessions as well as retiring back to the area he grew up as a kid- Willcox.

Plenty of motels in Willcox at the first exit. When I've stayed there overnight I generally got a decent meal at the Plaza restaurant. The next exit up is a new TA Truck Stop (TA stands for Travel America). Good breakfast bar, it opened up 4 (?) years ago. West of town you'll see a series of signs talking about "The Thing." It's off exit 322 and it's, um, kinda interesting. Haven't been there in years and it's unadulterated schtick, but kinda cool. Google in "The Thing"- Wikipedia has an interesting story behind it. Years ago Jane Pauley on NBC done a 15 minute seg on the place.

South of Benson about 20 miles is Tombstone-"The Town Too Tough To Die." Pretty much touristy and a half, I still appreciate it though, I love western history. Near Sierra Vista is the Kartchner Caverns. They're nothing like Carlsbad Caverns but still worth your while. Just west of Tucson is Colossal Cave and Pima Air Museum, pretty interesting old planes there. you have have "Tucson Old Studios." Dozens of cowboy movies were filmed at this place, too many to list here. Phoenix is well, Phoenix. Want massive growth? Sheesh, this place has gotten big. From one end to the other on I-10 it's about 65 miles getting through the 4 million plus in the Phoenix area. And at this time of the year the highways are busy! Pretty much all desert from Phoenix to Banning, California (300 miles) (?) Then you're in L.A.!

Damn, I'm ready for a road trip myself!