Texas!
I literally drove across the entire state of Texas. That about 660 miles! I drove from New Orleans, through Houston and up to Austin. That was the first leg. Then I drove to Carlsbad Caverns (lower New Mexico to the right of El Paso) and then to El Paso for the night. That was the other leg. My plan is to NEVER DRIVE THROUGH TEXAS AGAIN!!!
The drive to Houston was fine and I made a stop in Houston to check it out and had lunch there. Seems like a pretty cool city. Austin was a great city - I enjoyed the food, music, bats and Hamilton Pool. Austinites (not sure if that's what you call them) were so friendly and I had great conversations. I also stayed at an amazing hotel with lots of upgrades so that didn't hurt. The hotel was right downtown so I was able to walk to everything, even in 100ยบ+ weather.
The drive to Carlsbad wasn't terrible for the first 4 hours or so. Somewhat boring with little to see. This is about as interesting as it gets.
The tricky part is when you turn off of Highway 10 onto 285 in Pecos. Holy shitballs! That was what I call hell on Earth driving! It is butt ugly, for one thing, and it is all oil field traffic so it was pretty . much me and thousands of white trucks flying down the road! It stinks, trucks are flying off of side roads and because I'm surrounded but big trucks, I can't see far enough ahead of me for my driving comfort. Talk about white-knuckle driving! I hated each and every moment of that drive.
Off of that highway I turned onto this 2 lane road that had the biggest potholes I've ever seen. No joke, and I live in Maine were we have mud season! These potholes were the size of a tub! I was pinballing my way around the holes worried about driving off the edge of the pavement into sand. Damn! I was never so glad to get onto a paved highway as when I turned toward Carlsbad Caverns. To make matters worse, at that point I had to pee so badly I thought I was going to burst but there was not one place to pull over that looked safe for about 2 hours.Was Carlsbad Caverns worth the ride? Yes but I think I'll drive down from New Mexico next time.
Also, you could not pay me enough to live in this part of Texas. When I drove from Carlsbad to El Paso, it was my first time really driving through a desert. Now, the mountains around Carlsbad are amazing! Here's a shot of the Guadalupe Mountains:
Then when you get closer to El Paso, the Franklin Mountains are also amazing. Here's a shot of El Paso:
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But in between these two mountain ranges it is bone dry, completely flat and the highway is 75 mph with little dirt roads snaking off of the main highway. This is what it looks like for 100 miles.
I kept thinking, "Please dear goddess, do not let me break down here!" As you drive along, suddenly you'll see a single mailbox on the side of the road and I'm thinking, "Who the hell lives here?!!!!" There is no house in sight! I couldn't do it.
My apologies if I've offended any Texans out there.
The drive to Houston was fine and I made a stop in Houston to check it out and had lunch there. Seems like a pretty cool city. Austin was a great city - I enjoyed the food, music, bats and Hamilton Pool. Austinites (not sure if that's what you call them) were so friendly and I had great conversations. I also stayed at an amazing hotel with lots of upgrades so that didn't hurt. The hotel was right downtown so I was able to walk to everything, even in 100ยบ+ weather.
The drive to Carlsbad wasn't terrible for the first 4 hours or so. Somewhat boring with little to see. This is about as interesting as it gets.
The tricky part is when you turn off of Highway 10 onto 285 in Pecos. Holy shitballs! That was what I call hell on Earth driving! It is butt ugly, for one thing, and it is all oil field traffic so it was pretty . much me and thousands of white trucks flying down the road! It stinks, trucks are flying off of side roads and because I'm surrounded but big trucks, I can't see far enough ahead of me for my driving comfort. Talk about white-knuckle driving! I hated each and every moment of that drive.
Off of that highway I turned onto this 2 lane road that had the biggest potholes I've ever seen. No joke, and I live in Maine were we have mud season! These potholes were the size of a tub! I was pinballing my way around the holes worried about driving off the edge of the pavement into sand. Damn! I was never so glad to get onto a paved highway as when I turned toward Carlsbad Caverns. To make matters worse, at that point I had to pee so badly I thought I was going to burst but there was not one place to pull over that looked safe for about 2 hours.Was Carlsbad Caverns worth the ride? Yes but I think I'll drive down from New Mexico next time.
Also, you could not pay me enough to live in this part of Texas. When I drove from Carlsbad to El Paso, it was my first time really driving through a desert. Now, the mountains around Carlsbad are amazing! Here's a shot of the Guadalupe Mountains:
Then when you get closer to El Paso, the Franklin Mountains are also amazing. Here's a shot of El Paso:
But in between these two mountain ranges it is bone dry, completely flat and the highway is 75 mph with little dirt roads snaking off of the main highway. This is what it looks like for 100 miles.
My apologies if I've offended any Texans out there.
Whew! Reading your description, I feel like I had a narrow escape! So glad you're safe!
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