Las Vegas to the Rio Grand Valley...

[jpf]

Were to become first time snowbirds and was hoping some more experienced might help validate our route plan or make recommendations for roads/cautions enroute.
We'll be in Pahrump, Nv till the end of October and the plan is to head south out of Vegas on 95 to I 10, and just head east through Arizona, NM, and into Texas. Turn south out of San Antonio on 37, and south on 281 down to Mission.
Never been on the ground in this part of the country, so we plan on taking the better part of a month to make the trip, driving about 170 miles or less per drive day and stopping for 2 plus nights to look around.
Just wondering how everybody else gets there from the west...??

Thanks, jerry

[patodonn]

Been over that road, as far as San Antonio, a couple of times. You will hit I-10 at Blythe. Couple of CGs there, but not much else until Phoenix. World famous Quartzite is just 12 miles into AZ from Blyth....well worth a stop if you are traveling in the late fall or winter. There is a free shuttle bus from some of the Blythe RV parks to and back from Quartzite.

Mesa, just East of Phoenix, is an RV destination for snowbirds. LOTS of places listed for there in Trailer Life. Likewise, the Tucson area. If you have a few extra $$, stay at the Voyager for a couple of nights...I-10 on the East side of the Tucson area. Class act. Take a couple of days and visit Tombstone and Bisbee while in that area. There are RV parks in Benson and Sierra Vista, both of which are fairly convenient. The Voyager isn't too far away, either, for a day trip to either of those two places.

On East via I-10, the next large RV park area will probably be Las Cruces, NM. For a day trip, I recommend driving to the White Sands Nat Park, and taking the tour there. Very different. About 1+30 each way, as I recollect. Interesting drive.

Once you leave Las Cruces, good RV parks are tough to find and far apart. There is El Paso, of course. East of thee, we have stayed in both Van Horn and Ft. Stockton at different times. Nothing but miles and miles of miles and miles of prairie, and not much to recommend about either town..

Once you get into the Texas Hill Country, things get better. Kerrville is very good, and Fredericksburg is also excellent. Visit the Nimitz Museum there...super! Take a trip to Johnson City and visit the LBJ Ranch. San Antonio is good..lots of RV facilities in the area.

We went to Corpus Christi from there, and I recall a nice drive and pretty country. Don't recall the route, think it was I-37.

That should get you started. With your planned 170 - 200, mi/day, the tough part will be finding good places to stop over east of El Paso until you get to the Hill Country.

Happy Trails!! Best,

[syplace]

Been over this route many times.
If you stop in Las Cruses, besure to visit Old Town (on south side, just off I 10) and if you love Mexican Food ...La Posta is the place to be.
La Siesta RV Park is there too. And yes....much of nothing between El Paso & Kerrville.

[sreigle]

So many things to see and do on that trip that I wouldn't know where to begin. The above posts are a good start. If you are looking for additional ideas plus more info on those mentioned above, skim through our website (in signature below). You can scan down the left side to see the locations and look at just those of interest.

We often find staying off interstates far more interesting and far less traffic and often better roads (but not always). However, in some parts of those states there's not much option other than interstates. From Phoenix west we usually use I-8 (headed to Yuma and San Diego).

We stayed at the Voyager and agree with PJ.

Good luck and let us know how your trip goes. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. See you in Mission!