Southwest RoadTrip (Merged from several threads)

[PNW Judy]

I never really know how to answer this question. I've stayed in the heart of major cities, in the suburbs, in small towns, and in little "if you blink you'll miss it" places that are just pit-stops on the road. I've only stayed in one place that made me a tad nervous in all my travels. And that was in a hotel owned by a major chain in the heart of a very nice city. And the situation only occurred because of a rather bizarre incident and probably wasn't indicative of anything typical for that hotel.

I guess what I'm saying is most places are just about as safe as anyplace else. Remember, that other town/city/"blink and you'll miss it" place are where people live. And they probably feel every bit as safe at their homes/areas as you do in yours.

I simply recommend that you turn your personal safety radar on high. This doesn't mean being paranoid. It does mean being aware and observant. Some questions you might ask yourself: is it well-lit, does it look maintained, are the staff friendly, do you see other people walking around without looking like they're nervous? If, for some reason, a place just doesn't look right to you, or you feel the heebie-jeebies coming on, don't stay there and try the next place down the road.

Maybe that's why, except for the one incident, why I've never felt unsafe where I've stayed...I heed my personal safety radar. I don't tell myself "oh, don't be silly" and ignore it. I figure I may be wrong and that place may be safe after all but I tell myself "I'd rather be safe than sorry" and keep on going until I find a place more appealing.

I do tend to avoid small hotels that advertise weekly rates prominently on billboards, etc., unless they are extremely well-maintained and charming. My reason is because in my area several of the hotels that do weekly rentals tend to be where the druggies stay. I have no idea if this is typical elsewhere but it is just a criteria I tend to use. But, like I said, if it is very clean, charming, etc. than I figure that they probably screen out any trouble-makers so this isn't a criteria that is set in stone for me.

Hope this all makes sense.

[KingofJacks]

That makes perfect sense. I kind of knew i should do that, but i just wanted peoples remarks if they have been there. I heard border towns are bad, so i figured i'd ask.

[PNW Judy]

El Paso is no different. I've been there but I haven't slept there so I can't give you any specific recommendations but this isn't like some little village in the middle of nowhere. Any city has areas that are better or worse than others. I would imagine that they also have areas where there are more hotels/motels than other areas. Each city always seems to have areas where the motels congregate together a bit. I would imagine that any place like this that has the normal chains you would expect to see like Holiday Inn, Ramada, Motel 6, Days Inn, Econolodge, etc. is going to be just fine.

[KingofJacks]

Can someone possibly help with info on Austin. Hows is this place?

[Quebec Gen]

Hi KingofJacks,

El Paso is one of my favourite cities in the US and definitely not because it is a picturesque town. It's quite the opposite actually. That city is not pretty following any American standard but is somehow unique presicely because of its raw character or rather rough around the edges. The closer you get to the border, the less caucasian folks you will meet, even though I haven't met many of them during my stays in EP. At night, you can hear Mexican mambo screech until wee hours and see all kind of shady people.

To me, El Paso is pretty much like the Detroit of the south west : unloved, unrefined, but aesthetically much more interesting than most cities. Although, I have to admit I felt much safer in El Paso and you don't get to see as many wreck buildings as you do in Motor City. If you spend enough time looking around, you will find many jewels of Spanish architecture and you could also follow the Old mission trail which will lead you to interesting small towns further east.

On my last trip, I was passing through EP on my way to Arizona and I heard some loud music. I parked on a side street and followed the music. There was a fiesta going on in a park. Even though I was probably the only white girl in the group, I went in there and started taking pictures. Some people thought I was a journalist and they all came to chat with me. When I told them that I was just some French chick from Quebec travelling by herself, they were like : oh,...whatever! They just accepted me as their "second Latin" cousin:-). There was a Mexican food contest - you know, the best of... kind of contest -- so I got to taste all kinds of good stuff. These people were very cheerful and I had such a good time!

I guess it comes down to one thing really : if you want to learn about a place : people, manners, language, culture, you need to blend in even though you might feel desoriented. I really enjoy travelling like that although it might lead to risky situations from time to time (been there, done that:o). I never felt threatened in El Paso though. Being a guy already gives you an advantage. Unlike me, you could go to Ciudad Juarez and actually enjoy the commercial area. If you do, cross the bridge by foot (0,35$) and be sure to have your passport on your way back (0,25$), don't bother using your car. There is plenty of free parking on the American side and go to a casa del cambio to get some pesos before you cross.

As for hotels I was a little bit more conservative, I've always stayed at chains in EP because they had good deals and wireless internet. If you pick up a copy of Texas' coupon booklets, you will notice that El Paso usually has cheap and unbeatable hotel rates. Unfortunately, I haven't tried a lot of restaurants in El Paso, but I can suggest Kiki's Restaurant on N. Piedras and the Los Bandidos (I can't remember the address) which is more touristy but has good margaritas.

Have fun!
Gen

[Mass Tim]

From what I understand, Austin is a pretty nice place to be, with a good music and arts scene, as well as some interesting wildlife.

[KingofJacks]

Thanks for all again. Sorry for all the constant changes and questions. I just want to make sure I do it right. So heres the updated trip. This is 98% sure.

NJ - Nashville
Nashville - Dallas
All day in Dallas
Dallas - Austin
Austin - El Paso
El Paso - Scottsdale
Scottsdale - San Diego

Im nervous/excited for the trip.

[Mark Sedenquist]

I hope you let us know what you find out there!

Have a fun adventure!

Mark

[PNW Judy]

There really isn't. As long as you enjoy yourself and it works for you, it's right. Ande, remember, sometimes something that seems like a mistake at the time, can bring you to the best moments of your trip. To me, right or wrong is something that has to do with attitude, NOT schedules, itineraries, etc. Of course, things like safety and pacing yourself ARE important, so...

* Newark, NJ, to Nashville is 875 miles! Expect this to take a good 16-18 hours to cover. If you can actually make this distance in one day, I would expect you are going to be so exhausted the next day that it will be tough for you to do another long day to Dallas.

* Nashville to Dallas: 665 miles. About 13 hours! After your long hours on day one, your ability to drive this distance safely is questionable. I would really encourage you to reconsider this and stretch it out over 3 days. Even over 3 days, this is a long drive averaging 10 hours each day. But three-10 hour days is far more enjoyable and safe than what you're planning now.

* Dallas to Austin: This is a short 200 miles. Are you planning on doing this the day after you tour Dallas? Or is this for the evening on the same day you tour Dallas? Because of your long driving days prior to getting here, I highly encourage you to sleep in Dallas and take a day to sleep in a bit, refresh yourself, and then drive to Austin in the afternoon.

* Austin to El Paso: 570 miles. If you took my advice and rested in Dallas and then had a short day just driving to Austin, then you are probably up for another long day like this. If not, don't you think you'll be extra tired by this point?

* El Paso to Scottsdale: 450 miles. A reasonable day but there are a heckuva lot of neat things to see along this route. I hope you take the time to enjoy exploring some of them. And I question why you would want to spend the night in Scottsdale? I just think it's on the wrong side of the Phoenix Metro area. If you are leaving in the morning, you will likely end up in a of morning rush-hour traffic. Ugh! You could avoid this by staying more in the Glendale/Avondale area on the west-side of greater Phoenix. Or you could simply skip the area altogether and spend the night in Tucson. That's what I'd do....Tucson is a beautiful place.

* Scottsdale to San Diego: 365 miles. A fairly easy day to end your trip on.

I don't mean to sound critical. I've done my share of speed runs. But I also know that fatigue does set in. We all become less safe on the road for ourselves and others, and we will get tired enough to not enjoy the road trip experience as much as we could if we were more rested.

If you can squeeze out a few more days, I think you'll have a far better trip. The route itself is great...it's just the timeframe I'm concerned about.

[KingofJacks]

Hey Judy, you are a great help. Heres the skinny...

NJ to Nashville is the only part im not looking foward to. I figure once we get there, we should be good to go. However, everyone on here is advising not to drive so much. Do you have a suggestion where to stay between NJ and Nashville, bc i have no idea. If you have any ideas please let me know.

Nashville to Dallas - I figure this will take about 10 hours, not too bad splitting it up with the other drivers. The great thing is once we get to Dallas we will be staying at a relatives for 2 days (2 days of rest).

Dallas to Austin - This is going to be done in the afternoon to late afternoon hours. We figured we'd drive there and see some stuff then crash for the night.

Austin to El Paso - I figured since we have the long resting days we will be up for it. (i am still very concerned about where to stay here, the whole border town thing kind of irks me).

El Paso to Scottsdale/Tucson or somewhere in Arizona - the idea to stop in Scottsdale was killed yesterday bc they do not have any open rooms in any hotels. This is a result of the National College Football Championship Game being played in Glendale at the University of Phoenix. I will look into Tucson, that may be a better idea.

Somewhere in Arizona to San Diego - I figured we would take it easy with a 5 hour drive to finish it off. Not too bad.


So if you know of somewhere between NJ and Nashville I should stay, please let me know. Also if anyone knows of the "safest" area of El Paso, please let me know. Thanks.

KoJ