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

PCH is awesome. I drove the whole length of it from WA in early 2021 when a similar closure was in place. Even with a closure it is still highly worthwhile, and actually somewhat cooler TBH since there will be nowhere near as much traffic as normal the closer you get to the closure. Drive as far as you can, then backtrack to Carmel and take Carmel Valley Road south to Hwy 101 and Paso Robles. Then Hwy 46 back to the coast. From there I drove up PCH to the closure on the south end. Again, much reduced traffic there compared to normal. It's a beautiful drive.

There is a ton of stuff you can see and do and detour to depending how much time you have. Will you be camping? Comfortable driving off road?

From San Luis Obispo area continuing south, PCH is nice through Santa Barbara and Malibu. As mentioned the Santa Monica Mountains are really cool. Same with the San Gabriels above LA. I like the suggestion to head through Death Valley if you have time. It will be prime then. Same with Mojave Preserve and Joshua Tree, or Anza Borrego State Park further south. Drive the Mojave Road or the Camino del Diablo if you can grab some recovery gear and are comfortable off road. If you drive through Mojave Preserve, continue east to Kingman, south on 93 and up 89 to Prescott, over Mingus Mtn to Jerome, Cottonwood and Sedona. Then 260 to Show Low, south on 60 then east on 70 and 9 to El Paso. Carlsbad Caverns is highly worth a stop if you haven't been.

If you end up heading east of LA on I-10 there is the Patton Museum east of Palm Springs. It's right off an exit from I-10. https://generalpattonmuseum.com/ Both 10 and 8 are pretty boring. I'd take the secondary highways mentioned above if you have time.

 

As said before, take 40 through AZ to NM then take a byway trail southeast from there through NM to Roswell then head east from there to TX.

https://api.realfile.rtsclients.com...-45f0-9931-262ab73739ef/Scenic_Byways_map.pdf

 

not far at all off the hwy in Tuscon is Saguaro Nat Park. that is really cool. Then over in NM, about 2.5 hours North of Interstate 10 in Magdalena NM is The Verry Large Array. All the radio telescopes (think the Jodie Foster movie Contact). Then HWY 380 starts not far from there. that drive is gorgeous all the way to Roswell. you go by the White Sands Missle range and the Trinity site mentioned earlier. And some old Billy the Kids historic sights in Lincoln NM. After Roswell, 380 is unbearable though, go north or south East of Roswell.

 

If you’re on the PCH in Santa Monica, my wife and I always stop here for breakfast on the patio when we visit California. It’s right across from the beach, has its own fun history, and the breakfast options are great.


https://www.thegeorgian.com