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Route North

So many people are traveling in the next month that I have a feeling paths could cross if itineraries were coordinated. This is what I’m looking at:

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The first thing to address is that I am adding a full 400KM to my trip by going through Nogales rather than doing a straight shot to Ciudad Juarez. I’ve asked both RVers and a couple of neighbours who know my familiarity with the language and the consensus is that going on through Ciudad Juarez is too dangerous for anyone to do, much less for me as a solo female traveler. Locals fully agree with the current travel warnings for the northern part of the country. The bulk of the additional mileage will be within the US in states with very low fuel costs, even taking into account the terrible exchange rate right now. So all of that added together means that I am taking the same route north within Mexico as I took south.

Another point to make is that I found the two weeks on the road in the fall surprisingly long and I’m planning to do a full four weeks this time because I do not want to get home till the end of May because of weather and things I want to see in Wyoming and SD. So I have budgeted to spend up to three weeks total in motels with weekly rates in areas where I can do day trips. So I’m open to suggestions on what three cities I could pick for that.

Also, I have my Interagency Pass and am going to route myself through as many attractions covered by it as I can!

Finally, I know this is a mountain route and that I’ll need to monitor the weather closely. My alternative plan is go way east to Kansas to visit my friend L and then take the very familiar route home from there. But I really want to add NM and Wyoming to my visited maps list, so I’m hoping my route will work out.

So here’s my rough itinerary at this point:

April 25th: travel to San Carlos. It’s a long haul and I have decided to take the toll road the whole way. RVs can do the trip in about ten hours, so I’m thinking I’ll be able to do it in eight.

April 26th: travel to Nogales/border crossing. Overnight in or near Nogales at a motel.

April 27th: travel to Las Cruces, New Mexico, or the environs, and spend a full week in southern NM, putting me to May 3rd.

First week of May: more NM travel, heading north to Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

Second week of May (to the 14th: traveling through Colorado (I welcome all suggestions for getting around Denver!)

Third week of May (to the 21st): traveling through Wyoming and visiting Devil’s Tower.

Memorial Day Week: South Dakota Black Hills, including visiting with reader Vicki and Mount Rushmore.

May 25thish: begin the final push north. Deadwood is on the way and I’ll spend a split day there (afternoon and the next morning).

May 26thish: travel to Scobey, MT, and spend the night ahead of the border crossing. Resist the urge to just push through and get home so that…

May 27thish: arrive home late morning, with plenty of time to open up the rig, assess damage (if any), air the place out, start the fridge, set up internet, and, hopefully, have happy hour with C&C!

Yes, I am looking forward to this trip and getting home. No, I am not sad about leaving Isla. I have had an amazing winter and I’ll have an amazing summer at home and I’ll have another amazing winter here next year. I remember how reluctant I was to get to SK in 2013, and look how that turned out. I have so many plans for the summer and we’ll see how many I can squeeze into the few short months I’ll be there. Because if the summer is anything like the winter has been, next thing I’ll know, it’ll be late October and I’ll be wondering where the time went!

30 thoughts on “Route North”

  1. Sounds like a fun route! I’ll be in Wyoming starting May 11th-ish, but on the other side of the state in Yellowstone. I hope I get the chance to meet up with you someday because you and Miranda were an inspiration when I was getting ready to start RVing as a young single woman.

    • Becky, I’ve ended up meeting almost everybody I know online, so I’m sure it’ll happen eventually! Enjoy Yellowstone; I had a good day there in October!

  2. Drive safe, eat well, dress warm, wear clean undies, don’t talk to strange men, bla, bla, bla and all that other “mother” stuff. LOL

    But the number one thing……have a blast.

  3. Visit Mesilla, New Mexico, close to Las Cruces. Interesting small town with a Mexican flavour. Billy The Kid was tried here but escaped from the hotel room where they were holding him. I can’t remember if you have seen El Paso but it is close and worth a visit and don’t forget that Marty Robins’ ‘Rosa’s Cantina’ is still there. Sit at the bar, sip a Lone Star Long Neck Beer and sing along with Marty.

    Silver City is north of Demming, NM on NM 180 and might be worth a visit. Bit of a tourist trap place but lots of history. We have not been as it was snowing there when we had the chance.

    Juarez – I agree with you on not going through the city. Nogales is a good place to cross and as you point out gas is MUCH cheaper in the US. Laredo is also safe if you use Columbia Crossing west of town. But this means spending more on Mexican gas and missing El Paso area.

    • Thanks, Croft! I hadn’t planned to go to El Paso, but it’s really not that far from La Cruces. Depending on where I stay in the area, it might make for a sensible day trip! Laredo is way, way, WAAAAAAY too far east for me for this trip. I would have onlygone that route if I was going for sure to Kansas.

  5. Don’t worry about going around Denver. Just drive right through it on the interstate between 9am and 3pm and you’ll be fine.

    • The reason I want to go around is because I’ve been through that area. I want to see more of Colorado. 🙂 I am looking at a westward route around the city to see the interior of the state.

  6. Durango, CO has a neat narrow gauge railway you can ride. Pike’s Peak is south of Denver. West of Denver I don’t think there is much but Canyonlands, Utah is just to the west.

    • I would be hilarious if I end up in Durango this year after all, and it’s not the one in Mexico. 🙂

      I’m trying to remember why Pike’s Peak is on my radar…

      Just driving through western CO would be nice. I’ll have to see what national monuments and such are in CO and map out my route based on that.

  7. I’m sorry you were given such misleading info on Cd. Juarez. It is now considered one of the safest cities in Mexico. A myth believed by most rvers is that the border cities are dangerous when in reality the places most rvers stay for the winter are the most dangerous.

    • Chris, the concern wasn’t for Ciudad Juarez itself, but the trip there from Torreon. Because it’s not a common tourist route, I am going to stick out, never mind that I’m a single woman. Everyone I spoke to knows me well, knows my comfort level, knows my capability with the language, etc. and said it was too risky. Two men in a Mexico-plated vehicle would obviously have much, much less risk.

  8. It took us 11 3/4 hours to get to San Carlos and we didn’t get stopped at the military check at Benjamin Hill. You may take longer that 8 hours but less than 10 hours. You should be in Nogales by noon, however that depends on what time you start driving.

    PIkes’ Peak is a great place to visit as is the area. You should spend some time in Taos NM, lots to see and do including some old ruins.

    • Thanks for the clarification on how long it took you. As long as I get there in daylight, I’m happy, but I appreciate the reinforcement that it’s going to be a LONG day and not to dilly-dally! Adding Taos to my list!

  9. I’m in Deming, NM now and plan to move to Las Cruces Tuesday, then a bit north to Truth Or Consequences for another week or two and slowly progressing north. I’m checking out the NM State parks that I’ve heard so much about. Maybe we can meet up along the way if your schedule permits. White Sands is another cool place to visit if you have time. (Alamogordo)

  10. Rae,

    Suggested route Nogales to Las Cruces:

    AZ82, AZ83, AZ90, AZ80, NM80, NM9, NM136, NM273, NM182 & NM28.
    Not nearly as complicated as it may appear in written form, on the map it and when driving it is pretty straight forward. Total of 358 miles vs the 302 miles that I-10 route would be.

    Santa Fe, NM to Devils Tower, WY:

    US84, US285, CO17, US285, US34, US285, CO9, US40*, CO14, CO125, CO127, WY230, US287, WY34, WY312, WY320, US26, WY270, US18, US18/US85 &WY505**.
    *Overnight in Steamboat Springs (400 miles)
    ** Overnight in Sundance, WY (400 miles)

    Do a day trip to Devils Tower then back thru Sundance to Deadwood:
    US14, US14A, US85 & US14A.
    Alternative:
    US14, WY24, SD34 & US85.
    Both of those routs would be 102-103 miles.

    Santa Fe to Devils Tower to Deadwood using Interstates would be 867 miles vs the 900+ miles that I have routed. It will take you longer to drive but you see something!
    All routing that I have listed can be easily seen using Google Map and selecting Avoid Highways. I have also driven most of the route that I have given you. No Interstate, avoids Denver, is scenic and no passes that my Class C motorhome could not handle with ease. Weather could be a problem but avoiding Denver to the east puts you in tornado country. I would bet that in May you will be fine. If there is a storm stay put for a day or two and the roads will be clear again.

  11. Thanks, Ed! I’ll look into this and see how it might work for me up until Devil’s Tower. I know for sure that Deadwood is my last stop. I am meeting a friend at Mount Rushmore around Memorial Day Weekend and from there, Deadwood is on my route home.

    The gas mileage on my truck is TERRIBLE (much worse than advertised) and with the exchange rate between USD and CAD being what it is and doing a mountain route, I budgeted four times the amount to go home that I did to come down. So I’m not keen on doing a ton of extra mileage just to get off the interstate. I’m going to match your route up to attractions that I can visit with my interagency pass and see how well they match up. I really like your route through CO.

      • It’s about 13MPG. Very average for a Supercab Ranger with a 4.0L engine. I did slightly better when I got it and the guys on my Ranger forum told me to put some fuel line cleaner in my tank before filling it next time, so I’m going to see if that helps.

  12. Wow, that seems like low mileage but I guess that is what they get. Almost double what I get with the motorhome but I am pushing several times the weight.

    • For the trip north, once I hit the States, I am going to pay better attention to my receipts when I have them to see how many gallons I’m putting in. I hit the E mark very, very quickly, but I’ve been there for many, many, many KM before hitting the red light that says I’m running on fumes. So maybe my tank isn’t well calibrated. My Ranger forum folks say that this is normal behaviour for a Ranger and I shouldn’t even think about fuel until the red light goes on unless I’m in a very remote area, but I can’t bring myself to trust that advice.

      Miranda averaged 7MPH. Towing wasn’t a factor, only wind and terrain. She was, of course, over powered and under loaded, so that made her more nimble than your rig. Best day I ever had, I got 11MPG! Worst day, I think it was 3MPG…

      • Gulp. We just worked out how much we get driving out 40′ diesel pusher with full fuel tank and full 100 gallon water tank towing our HHR. We average 58 MPH mostly on cruise control and we get 10 miles per gallon on flat terrain.

        • Well, that’s comparing apples to oranges since I use gas and you’re using diesel. 🙂 I believe a tank of diesel goes further than a tank of gas.

  13. Rae,

    I have an alternative route for you to consider from Steamboat Springs, Co to Deadwood.
    The first part can be seen by using this link http://edwardfrey.com/biketrips/trip6.html and the use Find and type “Week 4” then click on the map button and or read the Journal for that week.
    Then use this link http://edwardfrey.com/roadtrips/trip1.html and Find “9 June” then click on the map button.
    In Cody, WY I highly recommend the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. Plan on spending most of one day.
    Then to continue on to Devils tower click on the map button under 11 June and to Deadwood under 12 June. (I’m building those maps tonight but the route descriptions are there in the Journal)

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