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haulandride's avatar
haulandride
Explorer
Oct 20, 2017

San Diego to Texas in December

My wife and I just got our first toy hauler and are planning a trip for Christmas vacation since we can easily get 10 days off. We'll be leaving from San Diego. The smart thing to do seems to stay South so we don't have to deal with more intense weather so we decided to head to Texas. We have some questions that I'll list below, but we could really use any recommendations you have. Thanks in advance.

- Are there any areas of Texas we should avoid in general due to weather or recent natural disasters?

- Where are good places to rest/dump/fuel there and back?

- What is a realistic number of miles to drive per day? I'm familiar with long restless drives (Minnesota) in a car, but I realize more rest will be needed.

- Where is a good place to ride the quads?

- Any weather concerns?

- Good sites to see?

- Texas/Arizona driving laws/habits we might not know? For example, in CA it's right lane 55 max.


Other information:

This won't be our first trip out with this rig and it's not the first rig I've pulled. However, I wouldn't consider myself experienced, especially on long trips. We haven't bought quads/bikes yet because we're not sure what we want. We might want to rent some sportier quads on location rather than borrow Grizzlies, so we can try them out. We're currently considering South Padre Island as our farthest stop but that doesn't leave time for much else.

'05 Duramax
32' toy hauler
2 Grizzlies (maybe)
Roads and Routes

13 Replies

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  • azdryheat's avatar
    azdryheat
    Explorer
    Oct 20, 2017
    Forget the weather; it's unpredictable, deal with it when it happens. We were in freezing rain in west TX, entire front cap of trailer was a sheet of ice until it melted off in NM. You'll love doing 75 mph in AZ. Hardest part of your trip will be getting over your SD mountains. Last year wife wanted to get to Tampa in a hurry. 2000 miles in 4 days. You can do the math.
  • padredw's avatar
    padredw
    Nomad
    Oct 20, 2017
    - Are there any areas of Texas we should avoid in general due to weather or recent natural disasters?

    The Upper Gulf Coast (Houston to Corpus Christi) was heavily affected by the hurricane, Harvey. The Lower Rio Grande Valley and South Padre Island were much less impacted. Your route does not seem to be within the area affected. As for weather, see below.


    - Where are good places to rest/dump/fuel there and back?

    - What is a realistic number of miles to drive per day? I'm familiar with long restless drives (Minnesota) in a car, but I realize more rest will be needed.

    This is a very personal matter. My own range is from 250 to 400 miles per day, preferring around 300 to 350. I like to start early in the day and stop for lunch--outside the RV, usually in a restaurant--then try to arrive around 3:30 in the afternoon.


    - Where is a good place to ride the quads?

    - Any weather concerns?

    Texas is a big place with many climate environments, but one thing can be said for the entire state: December weather can be all the way from shirt sleeves and sunshine to snow and ice--and it can go from one to the other in a matter of days. I remember one Christmas when there was snow in Corpus Christi and we had none up here in Northeast Texas. But most Christmas Days I can remember from my boyhood involved playing outside in pleasant weather. This is something that can not be predicted, only to be prepared for.

    - Good sites to see?

    I have mentioned Carlsbad Caverns below. I would add Big Bend National Park and Davis Mountains in far West Texas. The Hill Country around Fredericksburg as well as San Antonio would be near I-10. The problem is the time you have if you are going on down to the Rio Grande Valley or South Padre Island. You won't be much over half way of your trip when you get to El Paso.

    - Texas/Arizona driving laws/habits we might not know? For example, in CA it's right lane 55 max.

    In Texas we drive right along with the automobiles, showing good sense and courtesy but not much restricted by law.


    Here is a trip we took a few years ago from East Texas to the San Diego area. Of course, your plan would be to head much more southeast once in Texas, but this is just an example of miles and stops:

    Weatherford, TX === 1 202 ... Serinity Ranch RV
    Midland, TX === 1 283 ... Medissa Oil Patch RV
    Carlsbad, NM === 1 149 ... Carlsbad RV Park
    Deming, NM === 1 261 ... Little Vineyard RV
    Eloy, AZ === 1 275 ... Desert Valley RV
    Boulevard, CA === 1 298 ... Sacred Rocks RV
    Valley Center, CA=== 2 85 .... Woods Valley RV

    The second column is the number of nights we stayed. I would not advise such a schedule, but our goal was California. We did work in a very nice tour of Carlsbad Caverns on the afternoon we were there. The second column is the miles between stops.
  • the_bear_II's avatar
    the_bear_II
    Explorer
    Oct 20, 2017
    Weather can be unpredictable but as long as you pay attention to the weather reports each morning before you hit the road and if you see a storm in the direction you travel you should be able to decide when it's best to park in a safe spot to wait out any extreme stuff.

    We usually travel 400 to 800 miles per day depending on if we need to get somewhere by a certain date/time. If traveling leisurely we will stop at roadside attractions, tourist spots, rest stops at will. Also large truck stops or gas stations are convenient for rest stops, dump stations and fuel.

    I-8 or 1-10 will provide opportunities to ride your grizzlies since both routes travel through semi-desert geographies. Research BLM ORV spots along your path.

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