Cali to Tx Road Trip help/recommendation in newly acquired 3rd Gen

Hi All,

I'm mostly on the 2nd gen boards but just picked up a new to me 2020 Double Cab SR5. Going to pick it up in the Bay Area over spring break and drive it back to Austin with my son.

We plan to take our time and go I-5 to I-10 then all the way back to Texas.

- Any recommendations on a different route that might be better? I've been told to take Pacific Coast Highway 1 instead of I-5. Any must-see or must-stop places to eat or sightsee along the way?

- My kid is big into military stuff, any forts, museums and especially surplus stores along the way that anyone can recommend?

-I've driven I-10 from LA to Austin and there is not much to see. Any other suggestions? I-40? We would go stop by the Grand Canyon but we just went this past summer.

- Besides checking the air and oil before I make the 1800 mile trek, anything specific to the 3rd gen I should know before we make the trip? Any simple mods that might make the trip more comfortable? I already have plans to sell the Cap and get a sport hood. Anyone in Cali, NM, AZ, East Texas want to swap hoods?



Here is my 2nd Gen that is going to my son (after I swap the wheels).



Thanks in advance y'all.

 

Hearst Castle on Hwy 1 is cool.

If you have time, Hwy 1 is WAAAAY better than I5.

Maybe take the new truck onto Oceano Dunes on the way through, too.

 

Congrats, have a safe trip.

Lucky kid getting a nice truck!

Idk, about the drive though, did it once round-trip 20+ years ago, I fly now.

 

If you never want to complain about gas ever again, fill up in Gordo, CA. Back in like 2018 it was like $7.50/gal for 87.

You may want to have one of the Bay Area local Overland Tailor Tuners give you a tune so the drive back is much more enjoyable.

 

From Los Angeles to Austin, there is a lot to see. It's just not as populated and you're not a sightseeing tourist in a city.

Start researching https://www.atlasobscura.com/ along your route.

 

La Posta de Mesilla ( food in Mesilla, NM) and the Billy the Kid Gift Shop are worth a visit, if time allows.

 

Me thinks you should stop in San Clemente, CA on your way down. Great city with a pier (nice outdoor seating to watch surfers,) cool shops and a fabulous vibe. Go to Mimosa for breakfast, Nick's for lunch and Vine or Snoop's for dinner.

Cheers!

 

Nice. I think my son would enjoy the dunes way more than the castle. Hwy 1 is a good Idea. I'm not in a rush. Spend some time with the boy before he goes off to college or boot camp next year.

IDK, he is trying to convince me that the 3rd gen auto is better for him than the 2nd gen manual.

Interesting. Never heard of them, but with no aftermarket parts on the truck, what would be the benefit of tuning a stock truck?

 

I think PCH is the way to go after reading about it.

 

Thanks for looking out. It will be in March during spring break.

 

Spend a bit of time in the Bay Area - if you have not already. Old forts and areas to explore. Visit the fort under the Golden Gate south pier. The old airfield right next door (Crissy Field) + Muir Beach, Stinson Beach (don't miss a Pint and dinner at 'The Pelican' (A proper British PUB - a MUST).

Stop in San Luis Obispo for a night...

Do check on Hwy 1 status - it is beautiful - but unstable. If needed Hwy 101 is MUCH prettier and MUCH more entertaining than 5... (But then anything is. - Except for 10 headed East. D) Just not a lot there to see and the town are sketchy...
I'd go the Grand Canyon route.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll have to plan this out with my son to see what he wants to do. Can't wait.

 

H101 for sure.

 

Lots of good suggestions for the coast. But, you can also head east out of the Bay area. There is Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia national parks. Cross the Sierras, dip down into Death Valley and so on. So many possibilities. There was a time when I needed chains in Yosemite at that time of year. Don't know what this spring will bring.

 

Lots to see if you get off the interstate.

If you haven't seen it, take 1, cut across I40 to see South rim, the big meteor crater and petrified forest, then immediately drop off the interstate and cut a diagonal towards the south around show-low. There's a lot of cool things to see around white sands including the Trinity site (first nuclear bomb test) and the park itself. Then take the road up through cloudcroft (cool as hell haunted hotel in that town, it's more Steven King-ish than the actual Overlook), see Carlsbad caverns, then cut across Midland (yuck) to San Angelo and home.

Or if you have endless time to kill, Vegas through southern Utah, North Rim, and then 160 across Colorado, drop down at Pagosa Springs towards Santa Fe. It's a much more time consuming route but it's easy to find things to see that way.

 

If you're interested in military museums, check out the Navy Seabees museum at Port Hueneme. It's pretty cool.

 

Crossing Texas is the challenge. It's hard to find things to do. The northern route has you coming in on 287, which aside from eating the 72 oz steak and taking a stretch in DFW, has nothing. The alternate northern route starts at Fort Sumner NM to go see a very underwhelming gravesite of Billy the Kid, then past the 6666 ranch (filming location of Yellowstone), then generally pleasant but otherwise uneventful country.

You know the story on the southern route. I10 is a whole lot of nothing until caverns of Sonora, then you can hook northwards at junction and catch Fredericksburg. Midland to Llano is also a lot of nothing, but at least it's a nothing that you haven't seen yet.

 

Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson is a great place to see some aircraft.

 

I have crossed the U.S. 22 times and used all of the east/west corridors from the Canadian boarder to the Mexican boarder. If I were to take this trip...

Leave San Fran and take Rt 1 / Hwy 101 to San Luis Obispo. From there cross over to Bakersfield and traverse Death Valley. Stop in Vegas (You just have to right?) Then drop down 95 to Rt 66 and take it through AZ and New Mexico and decide when you want to drop south (Look up the Mogollon rim) and hit White Sands and Carlsbad Caverns, Roswell, and the like then do the boring parts of West Texas on the way home.

 

Maybe it’s the angle but the 3rd gen looks…….. Squished