CA ➲ TX Roadtrip
A crash course on how to have a successful roadtrip cross country
Life is all about taking risks. If you never take a risk, then you'll never achieve your dreams.
I have always had this philosophy in life that I should allow myself to try everything, at least once, with of course some very obvious exceptions. This was one of those delicate yet extremely pivotal moments in my life that I knew was truly going to open up so many doors for me if I decided to pursue it, which clearly by the title of this blog post, we all know I did.
A few months after graduating from college, I began working for a sales and marketing company, in the Bay Area. Before I knew it, an opportunity to move to the Houston, TX market so of course I eagerly accepted and began packing my bags!
First when it comes to planning a roadtrip you have to ask yourself, “am I trying to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible? Or am I going to give myself time to stop in new cities to venture around for a little bit?”
Unfortunately, when it came to this roadtrip I had a very specific deadline that I needed to meet with my arrival time, for me to have a quick two days to move into my place, get slightly acquainted with the area and be ready to start bright in early Monday morning, thus leaving only a little bit of time for timely stops or adventures along the way. I left 4 am Wednesday from Modesto, CA and pulled in at the apartments in Houston, TX by 5 pm Friday.
How did I do it?
Well first off, I took my sister along with me to help split up the drive. If you didn’t already know, I am not the biggest fan of driving, in fact I prefer not too, so facing this 2,000 mile trek was only going to be made possible with some assistance.
Below is the route we took over 3 days:
5 Best Practices To Have When Preparing For A Roadtrip:
Preplan the route, including all major stops AND gas stations along the path to refuel.
Book sleeping accommodations in advance. This ensures better rates as well as it limits the amount of money being carried as you travel.
Call all banks to inform them of your travel plans. Last thing you want is your transactions to decline because the bank thinks there is fraudulent activity happening.
Inspect your vehicle throughly, tires, fluids, filters, oil, you name it! Make sure you have the spare tire and jack ready. Also double check you have the car insurance (paper or downloaded to your phone) and registration in your glove compartment. It is also a great idea to bring a spare key, just do not put it on the same key ring.
Download all the game apps, podcasts and movies to your device. Pack your books. Make the playlists.
Our first day on the road, we made a total of 3 stops. Shortly before we crossed the state line, we stopped for coffee and gas. Then we jumped back onto the road to head through the desert.
When leaving southern California to head into Nevada, one must cross the Mojave Desert. Now this was not necessarily the easiest mission considering I was hauling a heavy car filled with clothes, shoes, dishes, and anything else you can think of for my cross country move. Being that the summer is already hot, making a trip through the desert only leads to a stretch of no AC on in the car to help prevent the vehicle from over heating. Trust me, you wont even want to try it risking it either. Several signs will remind you to turn the AC off to prevent cars overheating on the road.
Thank goodness it only took about an hour and a half to get through it!
If you are planning on driving through the desert, stopping at a rest stop shortly before to pick up some cold water would be the best possible plan idea. It can get brutally hot driving in the 100 degree yea with no air conditioning.
Please excuse all lack of creativity with my outfit choices in all of these photos. Let’s be honest, when spending countless hours in the car, we all go for the lazy, comfortable look. Finally, we made it out of the desert and into Nevada!
Now let us talk Roadtrip Playlist!
The playlist is probably the MOST important part of the entire trip. It sets the mood. It motivates you to keep driving. It bonds two people together through car ride karaoke-ing.
Our Top 10 Roadtrip Playlist Songs:
A Thousand Miles - Vanessa Carlton
Solita - Ozuna & Bad Bunny
Life Is A Highway - Rascal Flats
My Type - Sweetie
Highest In The Room - Travis Scott
Highway To Hell - AC/DC
Walking On Sunshine - Katrina & The Waves
Sk8er Boi - Avril Lavine (woah the early 2000s!)
Hot Girl Summer - Meg Thee Stallion
Better Now - Post Malone
After going through Las Vegas, we began realizing that we were racing against the clock to get to the Grand Canyon in time before it was too late. When we finally crossed into Arizona, I made this risky move to pull over on a not so big shoulder on a windy road just to hop out and take this very picture. These dang signs will sneak up on you when you least expect it to, of course, are always in the most awkward places. Leave it to me to get what I wanted, which was a picture at every state sign on the trip. Now right after this sign, the road makes a quick bend and suddenly you are driving over the Hoover Dam. Now, this is something I wish I would have liked to plan out a little better to we had a few moments to get out of the car to see, but with us racing to get to the Grand Canyon, there was simply no way.
We spent approximately 2 hours at the Grand Canyon, just soaking in its truly breathtaking beauty, then decided to leave the park shortly after 6 pm. From here, we drove to our hotel room which was in Flagstaff, Arizona. The reason why we decided to stay in Flagstaff was simply to do the fact that it is outside the park's radius, making the cost more digestible but also put us back on the right path for the following morning.
Now I have a dedicated Grand Canyon blog post that focuses on what you need to know about the National Park while the Destinations Grand Canyon page provides more photographs and a detailed list of things to do at the Grand Canyon.
Day 2 came around and we spent all day just driving straight through the rest of Arizona. It was all boring as hell honestly. Nothing was interesting to see, and most of the time we had very spotty cell reception or at times, none at all. As two girls driving on these long interstates surrounded by only semi-trucks, there was no chance we wanted to risk anything.
We may or may not have been cruising well above the speed limits this day.
New Mexico was one of the states I have always wanted to visit. It is the start of the famous Rocky Mountains, is one of the states of the Four Corners, and is home to the rare white gypsum dunes. Unfortunately, we did not do anything in New Mexico besides stop at the Chick-Fil-A drive-through. None of the locations I wanted to visit were possible on this trip, for the fact of them not being near our path. Rest assured though, I will be heading back to New Mexico someday.
10 Things To Bring On A Roadtrip:
Snacks, Lots of snacks. Crunchy, sweet, savory, sour, you need and want it all.
Reusable water bottles. Easy to have refilled along the drive and is roll-around proof.
Travel pillow/neck pillows. Cars get uncomfortable quickly, so do yourself a favor and bring a pillow to rest your head on and even a blanket.
Car chargers! It’s 2021, we are on our devices 24/7, this is a no-brainer.
Headphones/ air pods. It is easy to get on each other’s nerves when spending a lot of time in such proximity, these are a must.
Cameras to snap pictures. Digital or instant. It might even be a great idea to pack additional memory cards and batteries.
A portable battery jumper. These are amazing, compact, and easy to use when caught off guard by car troubles. Amazon has some great options for around $70.
A fresh oil change. You don’t want to have to stop anywhere along the way to get one while in unfamiliar places if you can avoid it.
Sunglasses. Nobody wants to squint when looking out the car.
An emergency kit with a flashlight, car manual, bug spray, even toilet paper roll, just in case you need it.
Thursday early afternoon, we finally made it to Texas!!
To get this picture together, at the state sign, I had to pull the car out of the shoulder and into this grassy area. Then I set the phone on the windshield with self-timer on, and RAN back to get into the photo on time!
Once we made it to Texas, I think that is when the trip got the hardest. Being so close to the final destination, finally in the right state, and then having such a long boring drive ahead of us, definitely made us a little agitated. One thing about driving through Texas is that it is all so very flat. In California, you are constantly surrounded by tall buildings and boisterous streets so coming from the San Fransisco Bay Area, this was a huge difference.
Ever since moving to Texas, I must admit that the cotton candy sunsets that stretch for miles without interruption are one of my favorite things.
Once we entered The Lone Star State, it was made up solely of blankets of open fields, with sprinkles of personal ranches in between. We made it a few hours into Texas, finally deciding to pull over for the night in a small town in West Texas.
Looking back at the trip, the second day was absolutely the hardest, simply since it was plain boring.
The majority of Friday was spent traveling to Fort Hood to visit my cousin who is stationed there and then drove about an hour down to Austin. My sister and I decided to take some time to just walk around and explore the city before heading down to Houston to move into my new place!
What you need to know before heading to the Grand Canyon!