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Hello ,
We are planning to visit Houston to see if the options we are considering for moving are good or not. We are planning to drive from LA. We will be three adult and two kids under 3 yrs. any suggestions for the trip would be highly appreciated. Thanks
Hello and welcome to RTA !
Is there anything in particular that you would like help with ? The most important thing is allowing enough time for the journey and if it is a return trip a long weekend would be not enough time to drive out and back. You will need 2 overnight stops and the best part of 3 days to travel in each direction and that would still be quite tough on the Kids, so if you have longer, all the better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Southwest Dave
Thank you for replying. Well, we have decided to drive from LA to Houston and fly back. So we decided we can take a low and go at our pace with kids demands. So of course I am considering 2 night stops so If you can tell me what cities should we stop or what motels are good. And any other suggestions also will be greatly appreciated.
Benson, Arizona and Fort Stockton, Texas would be the places you'd want to stop, to keep things at a nice even pace. They will be about 8 hours on the road each day, which gives you time to make a couple of stops with your kids each day. Neither is a particularly large city, but both have a wide selection of motels so you should have no problem finding something that meets your price range and preferences.
Here's a thread with lots of ideas for things you could do along I-10.
I should note that one way car rentals are usually quite expensive, and I would expect rates would be even higher while traveling over Thanksgiving. You might want to price that out before you commit to one-way plane tickets.
Thank you,
You are absolutely right that the rental is pretty high. But for the flying we are getting for our rewards points so for return it is kinda free to us. but thanks I am reading that post and it is really helpful.
I was reading on a forum and they says that their are number of border patrol in between Ca- TX . Am I going to be hit by any border patrol too?
You are likely to have to stop at an Agricultural Inspection Station or two (although I think those are mostly for west-bound travelers, and possibly a random Border Patrol Check (although those are mostly on side (state) roads. In the worst case, three short stops. You will be asked if you are carrying any fruits or vegetables or if you are a U.S. citizen. 99 time out of 100, that's it and you will immediately continue on your way. There may be a short wait for others ahead of you, but I have never found any of this to be even a minor inconvenience.
AZBuck
Back in 2012, there was a BP checkpoint right after El Paso. We were held up there about 15 minutes, because at the time there was only one lane open and there were some larger vehicles ahead of us.
The Ag stations are westbound into California, when you are returning home. It shouldn't hold you up much at all. Make sure that you've eaten any fruit or vegies that you were carrying with you, and don't try to bring any plants back into CA. It's usually a quick stop.
Donna
what route to take for stopping at Grand Canyon? We wanted to see the sunset or sun rise in Grand canyon. Where do you recommend is a good place to stop?
If you want to include the Grand Canyon, then the route you'd want to take would be I-40, to Amarillo, then down US-287 to Dallas/Fort Worth, then I-45 onto Houston.
Keep in mind, this adds 250 miles, which is about and extra half day of driving especially since it involves some slower, non-interstate travel. The Grand Canyon is also a huge place, and very much worth a minimum of a half day of your time, so I would plan on adding another night to your trip.
If it were me, I'd plan to spend your first night as near to the Canyon as you can afford - it's a pretty full day drive there from LA. Spend the next morning there, but get on the road around noon and aim for Gallup NM. You're then 2 full days from Houston, with Childress TX being about halfway, with several hotel options.
Theoretically, you could make this drive in 3 long days, but I don't think it would give you enough time at the Grand Canyon to make it worthwhile, and it would involve some very long days on the road that will be very uncomfortable for your kids.
Hello Everyone,
So I am making my iternary for our road trip to Houston but we really wants to stop at Grand Canyon.
Please have a look and tell me what changes I should make in this. Keeping in mind that we have 2 kids( 3 and 1.5 months old).
Friday 6:00 Pm leave home ( 8 hrs drive ) 2:00 am Grand Canyon national Park.
Stay night at GC (Any hotel suggestion?)
Saturday 11:00 am leave Grand Canyon (9 hrs drive) 8:00 pm Amarillo Tx. (2 stops in between)
Stay night at Amarillo Tx.(Any hotel suggestion?)
Sunday 8:00 am leave Amarillo (9hrs drive) 6m Houston (2 stops in between).
Is that ok? Do you think we can do this. Considering we have two drivers.
Thank you everyone.
Sorry, but no you can't do this safely and shouldn't even attempt it for safetys sake. You plan to drive through the night into the small hours and then get up 6 hours later to spend 2 hours at the canyon before taking on a 10.5 to 11 hour drive, that's right there is no way will you do drive from GC to Amarillo in 9 hours. You would then be exhausted and have another 10 hour day ahead of you to get to Houston. This would be bad enough if you were sleeping all day friday, but as you are leaving until 6pm I can only presume it's because you are working and that could turn into a disaster.
Having 2 people driving makes little difference as you need two people awake to be able to keep an eye on the children and make sure the driver isn't going to nod off while left alone. You need more time, even without the Grand canyon this is a full 3 day drive and to be honest, that's only just enough with 2 young children to consider.
I would echo Southwest Dave's comments - you're trying to cram to much into to short a time. If you do manage to do Grand Canyon, this might be helpful: Grand Canyon Nat'l Park Lodging.
Maswik Lodge is a good choice. It is moderately priced (For Grand Canyon) and within easy walking distance of the Village Rim. If cost is no concern, El Tovar, Kachina, Thunderbird and Bright Angel are all right on the rim.
Just outside the park are: Red Feather Lodge, Tusayan, AZ, The Grand Hotel, Tusayan, AZ, Best Western Squire Inn,Tusayan, AZ and Grand Canyon Holiday Inn Express, Tusayan, AZ. I believe all offer shuttle service to the Park.
Sorry, but this is an extremely bad idea that will put your lives, your childrens lives, and the lives of everyone else on the road in danger.
Dave has already gone through some of the serious problems, but it can really be summarized like this:
LA to Houston all by itself, with no detours, is a pretty full 3 day drive. You are trying to do in 2 and a half days, and adding in a 250 mile detour to the Grand Canyon, and doing it with 2 young children!
A couple other things to add on.
The Grand Canyon to Amarillo is a 700 mile drive! I'm not sure you are figuring 9 hours for that drive, as even the over optimistic projections of online mapping program put it at an unreasonable 10 hours. I think even Dave miscalculated, as this really a drive that is going to take you at least 12+ hours. It is also significantly farther than professional drivers are allowed to travel in a day. Not only is this day way too long in the best of circumstances, you want to do it after driving late into the night the day before, and while squeezing in time at the Canyon, which makes it more dangerous.
I'm also a bit alarmed that you're only planning to stop twice a day with 2 young children. Do you really think your 3 year old is going to be content sitting, strapped into a car seat, for repeated 4 hour stretches? Do you really think you can go 10 hours while only feeding and changing your infant twice? You will need to stop much more often, and that's going to push your real world drive times up even more.
I'm sorry, but you need to add at least another full day before you can even consider a stop at the Grand Canyon. If you insist on doing the trip in 2.5 days, then I-10 is your only option, and even that will be a pretty grueling slog to try with children.
Thank you for telling us to be realistic. I made this with the help of my friend who did this . Anyways I really need to reconsider this. Thanks
This past summer, we traveled with 4 adults, a toddler of about 18 mos old, and a baby of 7 mos old. We had to stop A LOT: feedings, diapers, pit stops for the adults too.
Two hours at the Grand Canyon?????? I would save this for another trip, perhaps when your children are old enough to remember it. We took our girls there when they were 2 and 1, and they remembered nothing. We returned when they were 9 and 8, and they loved it! You will love having more time to stop and explore -- it would take you every bit of the 2 hours you're allotting, to just DRIVE through it without stopping at any of the viewpoints - especially on a holiday weekend when others will have the same idea to visit the GC!
Donna
Yes, There is one border check in El-Paso and a random one in Arizona. Be sure to slowdown 10/15MPH when approaching border patrol station as you don't want to freak out dogs (one goes around vehicle and smells for drugs) accompanying patrol officers.
Is driving back from GC to flagstaff is dangerous due to wild life after the sunset? I am confused about should we book a room in Flagstaff or GC national park. Some people says that driving in the GC at night is dangerous due to wildlife so should we stay in the park lodging?
What does your current plan look like?
If you leave LA in the morning you won't even be getting to the Grand Canyon until it is nearly dark, or after. The sun sets around 5pm at the end of November, and you'll be losing an hour of daylight traveling east.
Yes, driving after dark is more dangerous than driving during the day, and yes, animals are a part of that factor. However, I strongly suspect you've got bigger issues than that. It's just not reasonable to drive from LA to Flagstaff and expect to have time to see the Grand Canyon in the same day.
I would plan to spend the night as close to the Grand Canyon as possible, so you'll have some time to see it the following day.
If you are looking for the best balance between cost and having enough time to see the park, spend your first night in Williams and the second night in Flagstaff.
We have added 2 days in our traveling . We are driving from LA and then staying at Bright angel or maswik lodge for night . The next day we go to all the points and then stay that night in flagstaff to continue our trip towards Houston. How does it looks now?
That's certainly much better than your first plan, however, if I'm understanding correctly, you'd then be trying to travel from Flagstaff to Houston in 2 days?
2 days from Flagstaff to Houston is possible, but is 2 very long and tough days when traveling with small children. You'd be looking at at least 10-12 hours each of those days. I would still recommend the same advice I gave you back on the first page of this thread, where I suggested you spend about a half day at the Canyon, and then try to make your way to Gallup. Even getting as far as Holbrook AZ would make your trip onto Houston over 2 days quite a bit easier.
From Flagstaff to Houston you are looking at almost 20 hours driving. Amarillo, TX might be middle stop... or If you take I10 route then El Peso may be stop...
40-25-10 ...this is the route we are thinking to take. Any places to stopover here and any hotels that is good in this route.
That route adds almost 150 miles vs. taking I-40 to Amarillo and then cutting down US-287 via Fort Worth. What is your reasoning for taking this new, longer route?
Are you still planning to spend the night after the Grand Canyon in Flagstaff? If so, you're back to needing 2 nights to make it to Houston. You'd want to spend your first night in Las Cruces or El Paso, and then spend a second night in San Antonio, before finishing the last 3.5-4 hours to Houston on day 3.
ok so in another forum almost everyone suggested this route but no one told me that it will add 150 miles more. I have just booked the hotel in GC and nowhere else. If we can travel and stay overnight on another place we are open to that. Infact we were thinking to stay at Albquerque instead of flagstaff. but as you say Las Cruces can also be another option for us.Quote:
Originally Posted by Midwest Michael
If we go to through 40 what would be the best route keeping in mind time, overnight stay and availability of gas stations food on the side.
17/10, 40/25/10, or 40/35/45
If you go back to page one, you'll see the route I recommend, and the places I suggest you spend the night, assuming you want to actually see the Grand Canyon and get to Houston as quickly as is reasonably possible.
Albuquerque really doesn't make any sense for a stopping point. It is nearly a full day drive from the Grand Canyon, and wouldn't give you any time to actually see the canyon. But then you're still a long day and a half from Houston, so you still need another overnight.
Las Cruces is only an option if you are spending a full day at the Grand Canyon and then spending the following night in Flagstaff. It is way too far to be driving on the same day you are seeing the Grand Canyon, and you would still need to stop a night before Houston.
None of the 3 routes you mentioned make the most sense if you are trying to get to Houston quickly, as all of them are 100-150 miles longer than using US-287 from Amarillo to Fort Worth. There will be no problems finding gas/food/lodging on any route.
That said, if getting to Houston as quickly as possible is no longer one of your top goals, and you want to see something along the other routes... nothing wrong with that.
US-287 between Amarillo and DFW is a fast road. It's near-Interstate quality all the way with minimal town slowdowns, it's multi-lane, and a large portion has 70 and 75 mph speed limits. It's far from being desolate and isolated, it's a major through truck route.
I take US 287 when traveling from DFW to west coast or Colorado as an only option to get to Amarillo. For most part the road is non-traffic and four lane. There are couple medium to small towns like Wichita Falls and Childress with just about all types of food service and hotel brands. The roads are well maintained with new rest areas.
With 287 going through Ft. worth you can bypass Dallas traffic.
I like that route as well. I personally take I10 west Texas to Houston. The US287 can be stop-n-go type going through small towns and couple big towns.Quote:
Originally Posted by rabzee