A long, long, boring drive, ideas?

[Phoedis]

Hi there!
We will be traveling across the country along I-10 heading from Tucson, Arizona to Key West, Fl. in the beginning of April. Having done this before I was wondering if anyone could share any treasures or not to be missed sites, boondocking, state/county parks etc. Also am very interested in doing some camping on the coast line, never stayed in the panhandle and hear there are some great on or very near beach campgrounds. Thanks!

[DanB]

Vinyl sticker "Trump for President Campaign Trailer - Free T-Shirts" on the side. You will have more excitement than you know what to do with.

[mimiandrews]

I-10 doesn't go through the panhandle. Sorry, but that's quite a detour to the north.

It does go through the mountainous desert part of Texas. I'd suggest the area around Ft. Davis. Old cavalry fort, partially restored, if you like history. McDonald Observatory if you like stargazing. Check out their star parties on their website. if it's swimming weather, Balmorhea State Park has an awesome, spring-fed pool.

A little further east, the Texas Hill Country has lots and lots of scenery, and you'll be there right in wildflower season. Inks Lake State Park is one of my favorites, though a little north of your route. Check out the Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept. website for info on the many state parks.

I-10 will take you through San Antonio. Remember the Alamo, and several other old Spanish missions in that area. Also the Riverwalk is great.

Houston, NASA, Mission Control and all that space stuff. Great beaches just a little south of there at Galveston.

Enjoy your trip.

[Lily&Me]

Gulf Islands National Seashore near Ocean Springs, MS and Pensacola, FL, are both beautiful campgrounds and worth a stop.


Maggie

[PKI]

We kind of wondered if turning South out of Lafayette to come into New Orleans from the Southwest might be a good idea. Also thought dropping down into Pensacola and traveling along the coast might be interesting. Down one side of Florida and back up the other was a thought. But it would be hard for us to make that trip without diverting to see Savannah and Charleston. Maybe too much, but a must see for a different trip.

We do find the best way to make a long and not too exciting trip is to make lots of miles with dedicated stops along the way to set as goals to keep ticking off the miles. Kind of depends on how much time you have to make the trip, but a lunch in the
Big Easy and some kind of fishing or fish watching in Key West would be on the agenda. Don't know about that golf with the alligators, but those air boat rides seem like a fun way to spend some time and they ought to outrun the gaters.

Hope you have fun. Travel safe. Pat

[mojo]

Well there is another panhandle outside of TX, located in Florida and it is full of beaches. Any of the FL state parks along the coast are nice. If you plan to do the Redneck Riviera, you may want to invest in a Sun Pass when you get to FL as a lot of the bridges now have tolls and they will sock you for $10-$15 for towing a trailer. Plus you will want it on the turnpike going to the keys.

Or you could just skip I-10 and take the secondary roads for a more interesting trip!

[Isuzusweet]

Yeah......You might want to give the prairie provinces a miss if you're not into long, long, oh so long, boring roads. Leaving Ontario, you practically don't hit another hill until the Rockies on the western edge of Alberta.

The amazing thing is, you can have two cars heading to an intersection that can see each other from miles off, and yet still manage to have an accident.

Cheers
Tony

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by PKI

We kind of wondered if turning South out of Lafayette to come into New Orleans from the Southwest might be a good idea. Also thought dropping down into Pensacola and traveling along the coast might be interesting. Down one side of Florida and back up the other was a thought. But it would be hard for us to make that trip without diverting to see Savannah and Charleston. Maybe too much, but a must see for a different trip.

We do find the best way to make a long and not too exciting trip is to make lots of miles with dedicated stops along the way to set as goals to keep ticking off the miles. Kind of depends on how much time you have to make the trip, but a lunch in the
Big Easy and some kind of fishing or fish watching in Key West would be on the agenda. Don't know about that golf with the alligators, but those air boat rides seem like a fun way to spend some time and they ought to outrun the gaters.

Hope you have fun. Travel safe. Pat

If you have the option to go into New Orleans, by all means do. Spend a day or two poking around the French Quarter, admiring the architecture,nlistening to the street musicians and eating the food. Yum.b

The drive along the Gulf Coast thru Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida panhandle is absolutely beautiful, and worth doing if you have the time.


Maggie

[centennialman]

The "Thing" on I-10 east of Benson Arizona before Las Cruces New Mexico....not to be missed ... lol

[tsunami]

South of I-10, in the Florida panhandle of is SR 98. It's a great drive. Look for a road called 30A. It's a great drive along the coast and make sure you stop in Seaside FL. Have lunch from of of the 8 or so old Airstreams converted into lunch wagons. The foods pretty good too.


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[bababouy]

Just keep key west and mallory square in mind and the trip will breeze by. If you can't make it all the way, the koa in big pine is right on the water. We will be down in key west for St. Patrick's Day.

[Phoedis]

Thank s everyone, got some good ideas!

[OTRA15]

Having the pre-conception, that this trip will be long and boring, might be creating an unnecessary trap for yourself IMO. Why not focus on the bright spots along the way, and celebrate that you are healthy and solvent enough to travel in an Airstream trailer across our incredible United States? Glass half-full kinda stuff . . .




There probably many souls on the planet who would be happy to trade places . . .

[Phoedis]

Best idea yet!
Namaste

[kfrere]

Years ago I found a way to break up boring drives, and see some unusual sites at the same time. I started geocaching, which can now be done with either a handheld GPS or your smart phone. Go to www.geocaching.com and read about it and how easy it is to set up. Geocaching has taken us to some really strange, surprising and/or beautiful places. They range from very easy and quick to find to hard and time consuming to find. My favorites are often in cemeteries where I can read some interesting tombstones. And, it takes up only the space of the handheld device you use to do it.

[joel]

Lived in Pensacola for 44 yrs. If you are an aviation buff the naval aviation museum in naval air station Pensacola is amazing. To give you an idea how large there is an entire flight of blue angel jetß hanging in the inside from the ceiling. Ft Pickens Nat PK is good. There is also a nice RV PK at Pensacola Beach. A little expensive but right in the middle of all amenities and 30 Sec walk to the bay and 5 min walk to the gulf. Àlso have to eat at flounders and peg leg Pete's. Have fun.

[ibrianp]

Don't forget Avery Island and the Tabasco factory tour. The store is full of goodies you won't see anywhere else.
There is also a beautiful large drive through garden well worth seeing.

[mandolindave]

As stated earlier…New Orleans

Austin, Texas has a VERY diversified musical scene.

In addition…Cajun Country, south of I 10

Also Destin Fla. It is built up now, but there is a reason for that. It's the nicest beach that I have seen. Sand as white as driven snow. There are a few great campgrounds there.

[maryel]

We did Key West a few years ago with our Airstream, all the way down from Toronto in the winter. We liked/didn't like it for a few reasons. The KOA there was $75. a night for our 25 foot trailer. And that was in 2005 or 2006? We were cheek by jowl with 45 foot motorhomes that dwarfed us. When we went into town to see the sights, THREE cruise ships were in and you couldn't move on the streets where the shops were all selling t-shirts, tacky souvenirs and drinks. And then tons of people gathered to watch the sunset. A mystery to us. It was a very ordinary sunset. I think it was just an excuse for people to start drinking. Lotsa go-cups around us! I liked the Audubon house and wandering some of the back streets and looking at the houses and beautiful gardens. And my hub enjoyed wandering around some old fort. That's it. A very over-rated place. Much prefer old Florida in the north, especially around San Blas and Alligator Point and some of the interesting places on the Gulf Coast. Love Dunedin for the Blue Jays of course. Some great seafood nearby in Tarpon Springs, another tacky town but good eatin'. Would love to know what other people think about Key West. There is a very lovely beach campground near San Blas, a state park I believe but we weren't camping on that trip but staying in a rental property. The Panhandle beaches are gorgeous. I'd give Panama City a miss. It's basically a midway. The state park near Pensacola is gorgeous too. We camped right on the beach there if I remember correctly. That was a driving to Mexico City trip MANY years ago.

[xrvr]

Key west is the way it is because of the tourists, who are the ones who complain the most about the way it is. We, the tourists are the problem.