Grand Canyon to Galveston Island (Day 2)

Your in the middle of it now. Only half of your 1400 mile journey between the Grand Canyon and Galveston to go. Today’s drive is long and boring, but easy. Make the most of it with a visit to Carlsbad Caverns or Kerrville, TX… or get an early start on the day, minimize stops, and get into San Antonio before dinner for some great food!

Day 1: Flagstaff,AZ to Roswell, NM – Click HERE

Day 2: Roswell, NM to San Antonio, TX

Drivetime: 8.5 hours (about 530 miles)

Day two of our journey from Flagstaff to Galveston takes us from Roswell, New Mexico to San Antonio, Texas. There’s a lot of, well, nothing besides wide open spaces between these two places. The good news is, it’s a pretty easy route. But watch out for ruthless ticketing cops along I-10 outside Kerville, Texas. It’s known for speed traps. I got a ticket for going four over the speed limit, which (by the way) is 80 for most of the way between Fort Stockton and Boerne. And remember the time change! Roswell is in Mountain Time, but the second you cross the border into Texas you’re on Central Time, so you loose an hour. You might as well just eat lunch on the road because there’s not really much in the way of food when lunch time rolls around.

Click for more Carlsbad photos

If your kids are over 8 years old, you’ll want to make the stop at Carlsbad Caverns, which is only about an hour outside Roswell. This will make for a long day if you go all of the way to San Antonio tonight, but it’s lot’s of fun for spulunkers. Children 15 and under are free. Adults are $6. Can’t beat that. You do have to pay more for guided tours. Children three and under aren’t allowed on any guided tour. The park service recommends reservations for guided tours because they are really popular. You can do that HERE.

If you don’t stop in Carlsbad, Fort Stockton is about four hours away. A good place to gas up but not much else. You hop on I-10 here and your legal speed pops up to 80. THere’s literally nothing until Ozona about 112 miles down the interstate. Ozona is where we grabbed lunch… at the only Sonic I’ve ever been to without a drive-thru. Too hot I guess. They do have an indoor playground (albeit a dirty one). It let’s the kids blow off some energy if that’s what you’re needing about now. It’s another 143 miles to Kerrville, so I’d gas up again here just to be sure. Don’t want to be stuck in the desert any time of day or night!

If one was desperately tired after playing too long in Carlsbad, you could stop for the night in Kerrville. There are several motel/hotels there. (Click HERE for a link to Kerrville accommodations.) And it’s a really pretty town in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. You can find a Kerrville visitor’s guide HERE. If you’re a jewelry nut, you’ll be interested to know that the world headquarters of James Avery Jewelry is based in Kerrville. You can visit both their retail shop and visitor’s center on weekdays.

Otherwise, it’s on to San Antonio. If you time it just right you can scoot thru the suburbs and into downtown without much traffic. There is construction on the outskirts of town that can REALLY slow you down if you’re not lucky. We got caught in that mess on our way back to Flagstaff and it added an extra hour to the drive time… and that was NOT in rush hour. Yikes!

San Antonio is a huge metropolitan area. It’s grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, so if you went only five years back you’ll be surprised. This is a great city with lots to see and do, so you might want to plan at least a whole day here, two if you want to hit one of the amusement parks. I’d recommend staying downtown by the Riverwalk or Mercado. We stayed at the LaQuinta Market Square (great location and super clean, plus allows all size dogs for no fees).

I’ll discuss more about San Antonio, including where to eat and what to see, in the Day 3 section on this guide. Click HERE.

 

Grand Canyon to Galveston Island (Day 1)

There’s about 1400 miles between the Grand Canyon and Galveston. That can be a hard drive to plot out without lots of fun stops along the way. Luckily, my family just made that trip and is here to help you plan yours and pack in loads of good times and memories.

Day 1: Flagstaff, AZ to Roswell, NM (stopping for lunch in Albuquerque, NM)

Drivetime: About 8.5 hours (not counting the lunch stop)

Chances are if you’re going to the Grand Canyon, you’re going to stay in nearby Flagstaff (I-40 Exit 195), which is where we happen to live. (I’ll review Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon in seperate articles later.) From there it’s a pretty easy drive to Albuquerque, about 4.5 hours away.

Along I-40 there’s lots of cool stops for kids between the two spots, like the Meteor Crater at Exit 233 and the Petrified National Forest at Exit 311.
If you want to make it a really long trip and want to stay the night in Albuquerque I recommend staying at one of the many hotels off Coors Road (Exit 155). You can find coupons for BIG discounts on many of them in the roadside traveler magazines which are available at most gas stations along the way.

Pick up a bottle of Rudy's "sause" while you're there

If you just want to stop for lunch, I 100% recommend Rudy’s BBQ (on the north side of Exit 160), which is Texas style BBQ. It’s a franchise of the Texas chain based in the Austin area and hands down the best BBQ I’ve had anywhere in the world. No joke. Buy a bottle of their “sause” to go and impress your family with your home BBQ skills too! Rudy’s is right off the highway for easy access, at 2321 Carlisle Blvd, NE.
Now onto Roswell, which is about four more hours down the road…

Get back on I-40 and head east. You’ll be on a straight shot until you get to Clines Corners, NM (which is where you should get gas because there’s basically NOTHING until you get into Roswell!)

That’s where you catch 285 South, which takes you to Roswell. This may not look like much of a road on the map, but it’s really great. It’s got two lanes each direction with a huge median and not too many truckers so it’s a pretty open road. Boring, but open. Nothing to stop and see so it’s a good thing the kiddos will be full and tired from your big BBQ lunch!

Outside of Starchild, wearing "Hug me I'm an alien" tees

In Roswell, most things are located on Main Street. You can find discounts on hotels in a coupon booklet that is available at Denny’s only (200 N. Main St.). I found this out the hard way! But luckily some locals were able to point me in the right direction! We’re talking up to half off, so it’s worth grabbing a copy.

You’ll want to stop and gawk and the weirdest Walmart in the world – it’s alien-themed of course! Worth a photo op. So’s the McDonalds, which has an indoor playground to get out some of the kid’s energy if need be. (Check out some photos of Roswell HERE.)

I have to recommend eating at Portofino’s (701 S. Main St., Roswell, NM). It doesn’t look like much from the outside but WOW! I was so impressed by this local joint. Decent prices, high quality food, quick friendly service. A MUST visit! I got the pasta primavera and my husband got the lobster raviolli. Both were great! The bread they serve as a free apetizer is also fantastic. I wish this place was in my hometown! Its a great as some of the good italian restaurants we visited every week when we lived in Chicago!

My fav spot in town to pick up souvenirs is Starchild (108 W. 1st St., Roswell, NM), which was the first alien-themed gift store in town. They have THE cutest kids shirts for about $8. Much cheaper prices on kids tees than other stores in town too! (For more info, go HERE.)

Day 2: Roswell, NM to San Antonio, TX (Click HERE)