Say Hi to Don Gonsales, he is the guy riding around in a golf cart supervising the trash pick up at the Balloon Fest. Interesting guy to talk to if you get a chance. Tell him the Army Bob says to be careful and let the young ones do the lifting.
AS for routes to Corpus both of the above routes are fine, but I would take I-40 to US 285 to US 380 E at Roswell and then to TX 137 S to US 87 to US 83 and then
TX 44. No freeway but good road and lots of small towns with interesting sights.
It is also pretty close to the Google recommended routing but you stay on US 83 instead of getting onto I-10 at Junction, TX.
