Puerto Penasco Mexico to Nashville TN

[El Gato]

My DH and our cat will be driving from Mexico (near the AZ border) - going through Tucson AZ and ending up in the Nashville area in January 2013. We are in our 70s. Any helpful suggestions most welcome - like the best places to stay and/or eat along the way. Best Route. I'm assuming will need 3 nights at a motel. George, el gato, does not travel well - he tends to yell at the top of his voice so forced to give him a 'kitty cocktail'. Being a Bengal Cat his yell can be quite deafening!

Since we won't be able to do any sight seeing because of George, I think low expense motels would work best. Possibly Motel 6 and/or La Quinta as I know they tend to allow pets.

Thank you for your help.

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

You are right on the edge of what could be achieved with just 2 overnight stops and splitting your days equally would put you around Van Horn TX and Sulpher Springs TX for overnights. That would be pushing things to the limit and if you are happy to spend 3 nights on the road it will be far more comfortable. El Paso then Abilene or Fort Worth TX and Little Rock AR 'areas' would break the journey nicely. You can search for deals and pet friendly hotels using the the RTA browsing link to the right of this page.

If you stay on the east side of any major city you will be heading away from the morning rush on it's way into the city.

[glc]

My software shows a different route as being fastest - assuming you cross the border at Sonoyta, take AZ-85 to I-10, then Loop-101 around Phoenix to I-17 to Flagstaff, then I-40 the rest of the way. No reason to go to Tucson unless you want to or the weather is bad in Flagstaff and along I-40.

Overnights calculate out to Flagstaff, Amarillo, and Little Rock.

If you do go to Tucson, the fastest route recalculates to I-10 to Deming, NM-26 to Hatch, I-25 to ABQ, then I-40. This would change the first overnight to Lordsburg.

If you stay on I-10 through Texas, this is going to add minimal time, but puts you through the DFW metroplex. Dave's calcs are a bit off because (I think) he used Tucson as your starting point. Going that way, overnights will be Lordsburg, Midland, and Texarkana.

[Midwest Michael]

I think Dave's advice looks pretty spot-on to me. Heading to Tucson and then onto through Dallas is more than 50 miles shorter than going up to Phoenix and Flagstaff and over.

Even going to Tucson and then up to Albuquerque is shorter than going via Phoenix, although that's pretty close. Dallas-Fort Worth Traffic can be bad, but I think I'd still save the 50 miles and go via DFW, rather than take the detour north to I-40.

Dave's stopover suggestions also look right on target, as being an equal distance with a starting point of Rocky Point, not Tucson. I'd lean towards Abilene over Fort Worth for the 2nd overnight because it is more equal, and if you get a morning start from there, it would let you arrive in the DFW area after the morning rush has cleared out.

[glc]

According to Streets & Trips:

Puerto Penasco via Phoenix, Flagstaff: 1890.8 miles, 28:59
Via Tucson, ABQ: 1878.4 miles, 29:40
Via DFW: 1826.3 miles, 29:53

Go figure! Shortest in miles, but longest in time???

However, I did split it via DFW into 4 equal time days, and did come up with Lordsburg, Midland, and Texarkana. I suppose you could try to get ahead of things with Las Cruces, Abilene, and Little Rock, making for a short 4th day. That would actually give you the best choice of hotels. I think El Paso would be just a bit of a stretch on the first day, considering you will be on 2 lane roads all the way to Tucson.

Hotels: Las Cruces has 2 Motel 6's and 2 LQ's. Abilene has 1 Motel 6 and 2 LQ's. Little Rock has 3 Motel 6's and 7 LQ's.