Hey Ladies and Gents-

I'm planning a cross-country road trip of anywhere between 4-8 weeks, leaving some time in mid-late April.

One of the states I'm going to be visiting is Texas.

So far, I have the following on the list of things to *potentially* see in your state.  I'm not sure I'll get to all of them, but I want to solicit suggestions about things I should see or avoid.
I'm particularly interested in stuff that people might not know about or remember that has historic significance.  For instance, in Louisiana I'm visiting the site where Bonnie and Clyde were gunned down.  In that case, it's just a small monument on a dirt road, but it's an interesting part of history.

• Dallas (JFK)


• Waco

Texas is enormous, and I regretfully can't spend much time in it.  I've been to Houston and San Antonio before, so this time I'm headed North toward Dallas.  I have Waco on the list simply for perspective on history.  I know the compound was destroyed, but I'd like to see where it was at least.  I'm heading to Dallas to see everything related to the JFK assassination.  I'd love to devote more time to the state, but it will have to be another trip in all likelihood.  I could use some advice however.

Any advice at all is welcome.  Things to see, places to avoid, roads to use and not use, trails for off-roading, camp sites, etc.

One thing I won't be doing is shooting, and I don't really intend on visiting FFLs or anything like that.  I have a limited amount of time for certain states and can't waste that in gun shops.

I plan on sleeping in the back of the car for 2-3 days, then getting a hotel for the night, then going back in the car.  As a result, I'll need recommendations for cool camp sites with views, etc.

Any information about Covid restrictions is also helpful with regard to closures of parks or businesses.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

The Texas Schoolbook Depository/Dealey Plaza Museum in downtown Dallas.

The Texas Ranger Museum in Waco.

Drive through Big Bend if you're continuing west.

Excellent.  I planned on seeing both, and I had forgotten to mention the Ranger museum.  I didn't know it was in Waco, so that's excellent news that they're both in my route already.

I understand the Governor has opened most stuff up there?  Should I run into issues as far as access to either place?




My God, that looks absolutely gorgeous.  I'm going to put it on my list, though I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make it down there.  It's pretty far south from where I plan on crossing into New Mexico.  Thanks for the recommendation though; I'll see about making it down there.

Stop in West, TX between Waco and Dallas and get some Kolaches.

Let us know when you're in Dallas and some of us might be able to meet you for BBQ or Mexican food.

Couple of good aviation museums in Dallas and Ft Worth. You could look at the empty ammo shelves at Cabelas in Ft Worth.

World's largest rocking chair.

Depends where you want to go.

Caverns

Marfa lights

Observatories

Cadillac Ranch

Race tracks

Lots of state parks

It's gonna be tough to hit all the good sites in Texas if you're mostly traveling East to West.  And knowing how far you plan to travel in a day or how long you plan to spend in Texas would help too.  

I'll 2nd Big Bend, but it might be a bit warm by the time you get here.  

For Texas State Parks, I can recommend all of these - Cooper Lake SP.  Davis Mountain SP.  Monahans Sand Hills SP.  Cap Rock Canyon SP.  Palo Dura Canyon State Park.  Inks Lake SP.  Kickapoo Caverns SP.  Seminole Canyon SP.  Tyler SP.  Abilene SP.  

I'd recommend Balmorhea SP, but I don't think they've re-opened.  

Other cool places in TX - McDonald Observatory near Fort Davis.  Docs Soda Shop in Dublin.  USS Lexington in Corpus Christi.  National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg.  Nasa in Kemah.  

287 from DFW up to Amarillo is kind of a cool road.  90 from San Antonio to Van Horn will take you through cool places.  170 from Terlingua up to Presidio is a crazy scenic drive.  

Towns in TX we like to visit:  Terlingua, Alpine, Fort Davis, Dublin

Campendium is a great site to scout out campgrounds.  You can  filter for free sites, or for any type of campground you want to drill down too.

More will come to me as others contribute.

If you’re passing through the Amarillo area to New Mexico check out Palo Duro Canyon state park.

If you want good Mexican food in Dallas check out The following:

Jose off lovers Ln
Mia’s off lemon Ave
Marios off oak lawn
La Calle doce in south dallas (don’t get lost around here)

BBQ
Check out Pecan Lodge when you visit the JFK stuff it’s about a mile down the road or slow bone a mile down the road in a different direction

Tell us where you want to enter Nm. Tx is a BIG PLACE.

EXCELLENT!  Thanks, that will be really useful for me in Dallas.



I plan on entering NM and heading toward Roswell, but I don't really see myself going south on I-10 through El Paso and having to go back northeast to get there.  So I'm thinking something like going through Amarillo on I-40 and then turning south or the Lubbock area and in on something like 380.

I'm tempted to go south to see Big Bend and then re-join I-10 up through El Paso, but I think that all moves me way out of the way and adds a LOT of driving.  I just don't know if that's going to be realistic.  Texas is freakin' huge

There isn't much to see/do in Roswell. 1.5 hours further West and you'd be in Ruidoso. Great little mountain town with skiing and more. As for driving to Roswell the quickest way from DFW is I-20 to Snyder and then turn West. Driving to Big Bend and doing all there is to do sounds like a much better plan to me. I don't know what you wanted to do in Nm but there isn't much. Big Bend, Terilingua , Marfa , LaJitas  and much more to do and see.

There is a name you need to know when you gotta' "go"...

BUCKEE'S ...     LOTS pumps to fill up & LOTS of the cleanest Toilets around when you need to "empty" ...

As Gunny would say to the staff ...  



Seriously, if you need to make a rest stop, they have it all...

BIGGER_HAMMER



Oh and thumbs up on the Texas Ranger Museum AND the Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco!

Also - Not too far south from Waco (about 1 hour) is Fort Hood.  they have some museum there dedicated to what else ... tanks & armored warfare, but I haven't been to those museums there so you might want to check on line.  If you like to surplus shop, they have a bunch of places for it.

depending on your route ..  


https://www.lonestartravelguide.com/best-caves-in-texas-caverns/

http://www.macandernies.com/   =  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1xsExeH6dc

Thanks fellas.  I'm bumping this to keep it active and so it doesn't get archived as I approach the start of the trip (about a month from now I think).

Oh, and we have Buckees here in FL now.  I hear it's pretty amazing, though I've only driven by it so far and haven't gone in.

Carlsbad Caverns is worth a half day stop if you haven't seen it before.  Roswell is not.

Oh, and there's no "K" in Buc-ee's.

Dr Pepper, Magnolia (HGTVGaines) in Waco.

Buc-ee's

just sayin'

I would go down 35 hitting Dallas, Waco, tour the capitol in Austin, toob at Guadalupe or Comal, see the Alamo and get some San Antonio texmex.  Then shoot west for Big Bend.  Visit the observatory and camp. Then through EP and up.

The only thing you left off was Ken Block's viral video of scooting through Shamrock, TX. OP isn't gonna stick around for floating the Frio or Guadalupe.

I hope you're being sarcastic. If not, the wife and I will GLADLY give ya'll a proper tour of Texas.

I assume you mean the Hoonigan Ken Block.  I've not seen the video, but have a vivid imagination for his driving.  I have been through Shamrock, but normally we take 287 up to the panhandle as I have a distaste for interstates.  Driving on I-45 today coming back from Cheesecake only confirmed that.  

But driving the panhandle is cool, even on I-40.  I like Lake Meredith as a camping stop, except for one particular privately run campground.

Marfa is mostly dirty hippies now.  Fort Davis and Alpine are nice though.

A decent bit of Texas is going to be hot and sweaty real quick.  

End of April, I would not plan to spend any nights sleeping in the car in SE or S Texas.   Out west or north, it will be cooler and much drier.   But, other parts could well be miserable.  

Part of the challenge with your basic itinerary is the size of Texas.  Palo Duro canyon, for example, is nice to visit.  Just south of Amarillo.   Its a half day drive from Dallas, and almost 3/4 of a day from Waco.  Waco to Canyon is 430 miles, give or take, via car on major roads.  

Waco to Big Bend is 450 to 475 miles.   Eats up a ton of the trip time just getting there.

Plus 1 to Buc-ee's  

For a Travel Rest Stop - Gas Station, it proves "Everything is BIGGER (& Better!) in Texas"...

Their food is actually good (I like the BBQ chopped beef & their Pulled Pork too) which is continually made - no microwaving old & cold meat!

Soda's are Big & Cheap, Beaver Nuggets & the Roasted Nuts are awesome too!

Make a Stop and you'll be surprised to see so many friendly well behaved people ...   None of the Truck Stop Riff Raff... (not that truckers are but no lot lizards, pump beggars or other assorted road trash.

and of course LOTS of super clean toilets so you don't have to "wait" when you Gotta' GO!!

Oh, we can carry a gun concealed in our car legally here in Texas too. No reason not to be armed in your vehicle (at least once you are in Texas).

But unless you have a CHL, don't get out still strapped with your pistol either concealed or open carrying - got to have a CHL that TX recognizes / reciprocates with.  However we can open carry a loaded long gun (rifle or shotgun) in our vehicles to if you bring your AR-15, it is legal too!

Hopefully "Constitutional Carry" will soon pass let's hope things change for the even better soon!

Speaking of Bonnie and Clyde, there used to be this law enforcement memorial in Southlake that memorialized two slain LEOs that were gunned down on the highway by Bonnie & Clyde. I visited the memorial years ago with my family after church one Sunday, but it's no longer there.

you might want to double check the location for the Davidian compound because last time I was in Waco I could not find it. If you are coming up from the south and go through Brenham, the Blue Bell factory tour is interesting (but I see it is closed now). Near Waco on Friday nights they sometimes have dirt track races (right off 35). Just south of Dallas is Ennis and they occasionally have drag races on weekends.

It's not in the city of Waco.  It's outside Waco:   https://goo.gl/maps/c8tPDXeWwnnpPoVo9

UPDATE:

I've postponed the trip until around mid-June.  I currently have covid, which makes a postponement absolutely necessary.  My father also has it and is in the ICU.

I'll touch base again on this when I get through some of this.

Hope you and your dad get well soon.

Fellas, the trip is off.  My father passed away from Covid a few weeks ago.  My spirit for this sort of thing is just smashed, and I have no idea when I'm going to get around to thinking about it again.  

I want to thank everyone I've talked to in this thread and via PM for their recommendations and information on your state.  I hope that maybe one day, I can plan this again and meet up with a few of you along the way.

My best to all of you.

Sorry to hear that. My deepest condolences.