San Francisco to Houston?

[tigerlily81]

Hi everyone, my husband and I are planning a long trip in November and December. We have two full months and we set our minds to the southwest, but we want to skip the colder areas. We're flexible and we don't want to plan too much ahead.. We've roughly sketched a route, starting in San Francisco, going down to San Diego via highway 1 along the coast, maybe squeezing in Vegas but not sure if it's worth the detour, then going to South Arizona, New Mexico and maybe ending the trip in Texas.. What do you guys think? Any advice for us on where to go or not to go? Thanks 😊

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

That sounds like a great trip.

What are you doing for transportation? Cars and motels or RV travel?

You probably should keep in mind that even the places you're talking about going - like southern Arizona and West Texas can still see winter weather. I don't think it's something that should stop you from making your plans, just something to be aware of, especially if you're traveling by RV.

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

As with any RoadTrip that has extra time for sight-seeing, the sights you see depend as much on your interests as they do on what's available. So let's start with a few examples and see which pique your interest and go from there. I'll start with my hometown, Tucson, where you can see science (Flandrau Planetarium, Kitt Peak), nature (Kartchner Caverns, Mount Lemon, Suguaro National Park), Native American culture (Tohono O'odham, Pasqua Yaqui, Arizona State Museum), aviation history (Pima Air and Space Museum), and even Christmas (Winterhaven). So, If you could indicate which of those appeal to you most, we can proceed from there with a bit more confidence that we're actually giving you info that you can use.

AZBuck

[Southwest Dave]

Hi and welcome to RTA !

The more you can tell us about yourselves and interests the more we can help. Are you residents of SF or flying into there to start ? I presume the latter as you say "Finish in Texas" so I presume you plan to return home from there. With the amount of time you have available you could actually create a loop trip seeing different things out and back and possibly save money on one way rental fees and flights. Las Vegas is an experience in itself but might not be to everyone's taste so whether or not its worth it is a personal choice, but you could also visit nearby Death valley, Valley of fire and Hoover dam amongst many other attractions, perhaps along the famous stretch of route 66 through Kingman and Seligman to Williams and visit the Grand canyon. (weather permitting) Joshua tree, Petrified forest and Big Bend National parks come to mind but there is so much to choose from. Have a look around the RTA site, you will find lots of ideas and info in areas such as the Roadtrip field report forum, the RTA maps and by scrolling down this page for 'Similar threads'.

Once you share more info and have specific questions we can give much more meaningful advice. Enjoy the planning, it's a fun part of the adventure !!

[DonnaR57]

I do concur, that knowing where some of your interests lie may help us give you better suggestions.

That said, I used to live in the San Diego area. The following is a descriptive thread about things to see and do in San Diego County. Weather wise, November and December can be quite pleasant in San Diego, though you may not find that the temperature is good for beach-going, and the water temperature would be too cold for most people to swim. Staying at the lower elevations would be better than trying to visit the mountains east of the city or Palomar Mountain.



Donna