Albuquerque to San Diego

[meldl]

My family and I are planning a trip from Albuquerque to San Diego (Camp Pendleton) and back. We have hotel reservations at the Marine Corp base from 24 April - 28 April, five nights. We plan on leaving ABQ Saturday the 23rd. We have a free place to stay en route, in Sun City, Az. We'd like to stay there both ways. We plan on leaving CA on Friday the 29th. What route/s would you recommend? Do you have any advice about where to stop to get dates (the fruit), good places for Thai food, amazing natural wonders along the way, neat tidal pools and good shelling beaches?

[glc]

Welcome!

The most straightforward route would be I-40 to Flagstaff then I-17 to the Phoenix area - Loop 101 west will take you right to Sun City. A scenic option (essentially just as fast) would be get off I-40 in Holbrook, take AZ-77 south to AZ-377 to AZ-277 to AZ-260 to Payson, then AZ-87 to Phoenix. However, this brings you into Phoenix on the opposite side of the city from Sun City, you would have to take 202 and I-10 through downtown, then north on Loop 101. From there, take I-10 west to AZ-85, and take that south to I-8.

You will find the dates you are looking for at I-8 exit 67 in western AZ. It's called - ready for this? Dateland!

I don't have any personal knowledge of any Thai restaurants in the Phoenix or San Diego areas, but I'm sure there are quite a few.

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Since you're pretty much going to have to do the same route each way, you could use a few stops on each leg, Albuquerque - Phoenix, and Phoenix - San Diego. Fortunately there are more than enough stops on both legs. On the eastern leg, there's Petrified Forest National Park, Meteor Crater, Walnut Canyon National Monument, the Museum of Northern Arizona, Lowell Observatory, and Agua Fria National Monument. On the western leg, there's Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park, Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area, Desert View Tower, and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

As for where to get dates, the answer is Dateland, AZ, Exit 67 on I-8. You can even get date-flavored milkshakes there. And one great spot for tide pools is La Jolla Bay just south of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography.

AZBuck