Heading to Arizona for the winter - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Bobc · RV-Dreams Family Member

Heading to Arizona for the winter

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

After mid October, I-10 is really the way to go to Arizona, especially since Tucson is your destination. What do you want to do and see on your way to Tucson? If you want to spend some time in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, I'd recommend the Corps of Engineers Hickory Creek park on the north side of Dallas. Then I'd amble down to the Hill Country, maybe stay in Fredricksburg or Kerrville before heading east on I-10, or drop down further and catch Highway 90 east and make a stop at Big Bend National Park. Loads of things to see and do.

IrishRover · RV-Dreams Family Member

New Horizons Owners Rally - Spearfish, SD Sept 21-25

Albuquerque Balloon Festival Oct 7-15

Bobc · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thank you for your response Barbaraok.we do plan to take I-10 into Tombstone.
Our interest are very open, just like to explore different stuff.
I guess coming out of Kansas we will take I-35 thru Oklahoma City and into western Texas. We will check out your suggestions. I really don't see a need to do the Dallas area.
I was hoping to see more responses from others on this subject.
Oh well we tried.

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

Look at staying in the Ft Davis area and doing one of the Star Evening at Mc Donald Observatory. Well worth a 2-3 day srop, not far of off I-20. Really isn't a lot to see in West Texas besides oil derricks and 🐮. Have you been to San Antonia?

Bobc · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have never been to the area before, I had San antonia on our list.

but thought we were running out of time and we're looking at a little shorter route.

If we get to Texas fast enough we can reconcider.

It looks like from San Antonia would would leave us still over 800 miles to tombstone which for us would be about 3-4 weeks time so I would have to be there by the second week of October. I guess it will depend on when we get done in Junction City Kansas. We have heard good things about that area.hopefully at that time of year we won't need to have reservations to far in advance.

RonC · RV-Dreams Family Member

It's San Antonio, and there is a lot to see. Town is tourist friendly.

-- Edited by RonC on Tuesday 4th of July 2017 05:54:52 PM

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

There isn't much to see along I-10 once you leave San Antonio. 4-5 day run to Arizona, then Loads to see

MAYBE2021 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Barbaraok wrote:
Look at staying in the Ft Davis area and doing one of the Star Evening at Mc Donald Observatory. Well worth a 2-3 day srop, not far of off I-20. Really isn't a lot to see in West Texas besides oil derricks and 🐮. Have you been to San Antonia?

Hey Barb, I totally agree about the University of Texas Mc Donald Observatory star party. They have a great staff of astronomers and students attending multiple medium-size telescopes. You can also take a tour of the large telescopes. Also Fort Davis State Park is a nice place to stay for a few days. The Fort Davis and Big Bend areas of the Texas Trans-Pecos region is one of my favorite parts of Texas.

"Really isn't a lot to see in West Texas besides oil derricks" Most of the oil derricks have been replaced by wind generators. smile

Bob, If you do decide to visit San Antonio two of the primary routes heading West out of San Antonio are: US highway 90 and IH 10. Highway 90, to me, is the more interesting route (Langtry, Seminole Canyon State Park, high bridge over Pecos river) but much of the route is two-lane and the towns are far few between. The section of highway 90 west of Del Rio reminds me of Route66; there are many abandoned RV parks, motels, gas stations and restaurants. IH 10 did to 90 what IH 40 did to portions of 66. My worry has always been will there be a gas station open going through the small towns. I've never really had a problem but it is something to consider. IH10 on the other hand is a wide four lane divided highway that is much more relaxing to drive. Between Kerrville and Junction there are a few somewhat steep grades but the highway is mostly straight and the grades are not really a problem. That section of 10 is also very scenic. Past Junction it gets a little boring but it is interesting to see the dramatic change in vegetation and geology as you head west. Also, if you wish to drive that fast, the speed limit is 80mph out there . biggrin

In a few years my wife and I hope to be planning trips like this. Her family is from the Mass., Rhode Island, Connecticut areas.

Steve

Happy Camper2016 · RV-Dreams Community Member

The wife and I were just in Arizona this spring.

I learned several things on the trip. First when fueling in AZ don’t fuel at the truck islands- they charge 18 cents more tax on the 18 wheelers, so the same gallon of diesel fuel at the RV islands is cheaper. The second is, when traveling drive early before the winds pick up. When the winds and dust get too bad, the road will get closed and you can spend several hours someplace besides where you want to be.

We stayed in Ft. Stockton,TX and Las Cruces,NM on our trip. There is plenty to see within a 3 hour radius of those stops. Here are links to write-up we did on the campgrounds we stayed at:
Fort Stockton RV Park
Hacienda RV Resort

When it come to heights and hills, I am right there with you. If you belong to Good Sam they have a Travel Planner and once you enter your rig info into the software, it will plot your trip from point A to B and keep you out of height issues. It even lets you alter the route with click and drag (like google maps) and if you select a route with a low clearance it will warn you. Once you plan out the route you can download it to certain GPS’s, like the Magellan RoadMate RV9365T-LMB Once you have this GPS set-up with your rig info it will help you avoid overweight road and bridge issues.

For hills I recommend checking out The Mountain Directory it has info on 700 steep grades in 22 states. Sorry for the late response, hope this is useful. Have a great trip, it is beautiful country!

-- Edited by Happy Camper2016 on Thursday 6th of July 2017 12:07:18 PM

-- Edited by Happy Camper2016 on Thursday 6th of July 2017 12:30:53 PM

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bob,

When would you be leaving Junction City, KS? If it isn't too late, going across Highway 160 across Kansas and Colorado might interest you. The biggest passes that I know of are La Veta Pass and Wolf Creek Pass, both east of Pagosa Springs, so those would be the ones to worry about if you are going through in the snow season. Not knowing your interests, let me mention a few "jewels" to see, especially in Colorado. Dropping down from Junction City to Highway 50 and going west through Dodge City, and Garden City and then on into Colorado. On Highway 50 near Granada, CO is one of the old Japanese Internment Camps called Amache. Mostly it is just foundations, but they have put up informational kiosks about the place. Near La Junta, CO is a National Historic Site called Bent's Old Fort. It is an old trading post that has a lot of historical items to see.

From La Junta, you could take state Highway 10 over to Walsenburg to catch Highway 160. A bit west and north of Fort Garland is a highway taking one up to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Prior to getting to Great Sand Dunes, there is a road off to the East where one could go check out Zapata Falls, a small waterfall that is actually inside of a cave. If the timing is right, you might not have to walk in too much water to get in to see it. Otherwise, rubber boots are recommended for walking in the stream.

Further west on 160 is another waterfall prior to getting to Pagosa Springs called Treasure Falls. Off of another country type road is one called Silver Falls. Then, at Durango is the Durango/Silverton Railroad, which is an excellent trip on a steam train up through canyons. One can take the train up and back, or take the train up to Silverton and take a bus back to Durango. Either will give you great views. Then, on further west from Durango and near Cortez is the Mesa Verde National Park. For that one, almost a full day is needed to see it all.

From Cortez, one can take highways 491/160 southwest into Arizona. Highway 191 going south would take you to Canyon de Chelly National Monument and then down to highway 264 and over to the Grand Canyon.

All I can say, is use your search engine to check out all the possibilities.

Terry