Driving from Az to Fl with 7yr old girl and Golden Retriever! HELP

[mggrace]

Two gals and a huge dog driving from Arizona to Florida. It looks like I10 most of the way. Will there be motel thru TX? I want to stop each night and hope we don't get stuck on long desert stretches with nowhere to sleep! And advice for us on a ride this long? It's est 2200 miles.

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

You really don't have to worry about services anywhere on the interstates, as even otherwise small towns have lots of services to cater to the travelers passing through. In West Texas, your longest stretches without motels would be about an hour.

Without knowing exactly where you're starting/ending, we can't really tell you where you should be looking to stop, but at 2200 miles you need to plan for 3 overnight stops. If you're leaving from Phoenix, Van Horn, TX is probably where you should look to stop that first night, as there isn't another place with a large selection of motels until you get to Fort Stockton another 120 miles down the road (although Balmorhea, TX ‎does have a few options about halfway between the two.)

[dave95212]

First hope you have a laptop computer or any than that offers internet.Some hotels charge for animals and restrict size so beware of that. RED ROOF INNS offers pet stay free. WYNDHAM REWARDS group of hotels charge $10 a night. You should check joining a hotel group as they are free and can save you lots of money. I use trip advisor to check hotel for their condition and service (there are some bad one)Since I travel a lot (retired) I've learned to travel with my laptop for checking weather (NWS)and I always plan my drive day and book my hotel room for next day.GPS make travel easy also ( I like GARMIN ) no maps to fool with and also great at helping in heavy traffic in and around big cities.Also good for finding hotels and places to eat.Good luck on your trip.

[glc]

Motel 6 allows a pet, free. So does La Quinta.

[DonnaR57]

We've done both Phoenix to Van Horn (2012) and Phoenix to Fort Stockton (2014). Van Horn is about 525 miles, and as Michael said, Fort Stockton is another 120 miles. The choices are small in Balmorhea and a bit off of I-10, if I recall correctly. GLC suggests Motel 6, and I believe there is one in each Van Horn and Fort Stockton.

Van Horn doesn't have a whole lot of choice for places to eat, but there's fast food and a Denny's (on the east end of town). Fort Stockton has a bit more choice for places to eat, but their Motel 6 has NO CARPET on the floor. (Some folks like that, others don't.) I just had never seen a Motel 6 with bare wood floors and not indoor-outdoor carpeting. But that extra 2 hours between Van Horn and Fort Stockton is hard on you. We just came out of Tempe, actually (Elliott Rd), and it was a long 650 mile day with 2 changes of time zones. (Van Horn will also make you change from MST to CDT in summertime, but you also aren't on the road for the exta 2 hours.) Also in your pro-con between Van Horn and Fort Stockton is the fact that motels are slightly higher in price in Fort Stockton. That's because there's an oil boom and the places fill up with temporary workers -- and Motel 6 was a prime spot for workers to stay!

La Quinta Inns are decent and not too expensive -- we've stayed in them periodically!


Donna

[glc]

Van Horn has a decent steakhouse - the Cattle Company. It's on West Broadway near the Knights Inn and Motel 6.

The latest Motel 6 remake has hardwood floors, no carpets.