Driving to San Diego...

[phrogpilot73]

Go to Chretins for mexican food when passing through Yuma.

There will be more than enough opportunity for Mexican food when you get to San Diego. My recommendations for Yuma (and yes, I recommend you stay there, it's pretty cheap) are: Hunter's Steakhouse (pricy, but oh so good - try the Calamari, best I've EVER had!) or Burgers and Beer.

As for the drive, enjoy Texas!!! There's nothing more painful than seeing a sign that says "Exit 859", by the time I was outside El Paso I was doing 95 HOPING that a cop would pull me over. Agree about the gas stations as well, I ended up stopping at one called the "Lone Oak" and it was "Deliverance" scary...

Are you staying in San Diego, or will you eventually be driving east again? If you're driving east again, I'd recommend I-8 to I-40, mainly because you drive through the narrowest part of Texas. Avoid Needles, CA because those rat bastards only have one gas station, and holy hell it's expensive! Also, you can try to eat the 72 oz steak in Amarillo (I tried). Be advised - if you don't it'll cost you something close to $100. It was worth it for the experience, and I had leftovers for every other night on the trip.

 

[SETX07]

Definetly watch out for LA cops. They hate everyone out of state. As for TX...Beaumont wont be too bad, but you wont be in it long. Once outside of Beaumont on I-10 watch out for cops on the long stretch untill Baytown. The cops are crawling everywhere. Once you get into Houston the speed limit drops to 60 on I-10 and they'll slam you on it if your 10 over. If your there durring rush hour do not take the 610 loop because theres construction going on and it'll be worse than just staying on I-10 straight through. High tail it on I-10 after houston once you pass through the small town of Katy just outside. Speed limits raise to 80 on I-10 in west texas now. But hey, once your outside of TX your half way done with the driving.

 

[KBayDog]

My recommendations for Yuma (and yes, I recommend you stay there, it's pretty cheap) are: Hunter's Steakhouse (pricy, but oh so good - try the Calamari, best I've EVER had!) or Burgers and Beer.

Eh, you could try to save a few bucks and spend the night in Yuma, but I'd suggest staying somewhere like Phoenix. It's only about five and a half hours or so from San Diego, and you can still stop in Yuma for food/gas if you want.

If you decide to stay in Yuma, however, see if you can crash at Nick Pappagiorgio's place.

 

[Brett327]

If you've never been (and have the time), I strongly recommend a day's detour up to see the Grand Canyon.

Brett

 

[insanebikerboy]

If you've never been (and have the time), I strongly recommend a day's detour up to see the Grand Canyon.

Brett

Ditto that, but if you do go, try and go to the main entrance. DON'T go to the northern part, the part on the Indian reservation, unless you wanna pay for it.

Here's why. It's a fun drive to get to the edge of the canyon, it's an old beat up dirt/gravel road (lotta fun in my jeep when I went). However, when you get there, since it's on a reservation, they can charge you to be able to go to the edge. When I went it was like $30 per person (not per car, which is how you have to get out to the edge). No beef with them for charging, but it would've been nice to have known before I spent an hour an a half tearing through the desert to get there.

 

[MasterBates]

Plus now they have this:

http://www.grandcanyonskywalk.com/home.html

 

[Brett327]

Ditto that, but if you do go, try and go to the main entrance. DON'T go to the northern part, the part on the Indian reservation, unless you wanna pay for it.

Here's why. It's a fun drive to get to the edge of the canyon, it's an old beat up dirt/gravel road (lotta fun in my jeep when I went). However, when you get there, since it's on a reservation, they can charge you to be able to go to the edge. When I went it was like $30 per person (not per car, which is how you have to get out to the edge). No beef with them for charging, but it would've been nice to have known before I spent an hour an a half tearing through the desert to get there.

I had my Jeep there as well, but it had snowed the night before, so there wasn't a whole lot of trail running to be done. I stayed in Flagstaff and drove up for the day. Ended up taking the helo tour - well worth the ~$100. Drove back down through Sedona on the way back to I-10/8 - beautiful drive, especially for someone who had been in FL for 10 years and not seen too many mountains recently.

Brett

 

[kejo]

UPDATE

Thanks for the good tips! Drive went very smoothly from Milton. First day drove to Austin, partied with some buddies who came up from Corpus. Next day drove to Guadalupe National Park, east of El Paso, and camped there for the night. Really cool day hike up Mt. Guadalupe (reported highest point in TX). Shorter drive up to Gila National Forest in New Mexico, hiked up into the mountains, found a great view and camped there overnight. Saw the Gila cliff dwellings the next day. Gila National forest is a huge place with a ton of great trails/wilderness, I highly recommend it for you outdoor types. Drive to Tuscon, decided I was tired of sleeping on the cold ground. El Charro in Tuscon...really good mexican food, try the carne seca. Smooth sailing rest of the way to San Diego.

I start training with HSM-41 on Monday...again thanks for the tips

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

UPDATE

Thanks for the good tips! Drive went very smoothly from Milton. First day drove to Austin, partied with some buddies who came up from Corpus. Next day drove to Guadalupe National Park, east of El Paso, and camped there for the night. Really cool day hike up Mt. Guadalupe (reported highest point in TX). Shorter drive up to Gila National Forest in New Mexico, hiked up into the mountains, found a great view and camped there overnight. Saw the Gila cliff dwellings the next day. Gila National forest is a huge place with a ton of great trails/wilderness, I highly recommend it for you outdoor types. Drive to Tuscon, decided I was tired of sleeping on the cold ground. El Charro in Tuscon...really good mexican food, try the carne seca. Smooth sailing rest of the way to San Diego.

I start training with HSM-41 on Monday...again thanks for the tips

Did you party it up on sixth street here in Austin? Its definintely a must!

 

[kejo]

Did you party it up on sixth street here in Austin? Its definintely a must!

Wow, did I...gotta love Austin, I did every one my HT CCX's there...got iced in that weekend the storm hit in January, spent a few extra days on the government's dime in the Hilton where the governor's ball was being held...met Ted Nugent and took shots with the chairman of the Make-A-Wish foundation, hotel bars rock

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

Wow, did I...gotta love Austin, I did every one my HT CCX's there...got iced in that weekend the storm hit in January, spent a few extra days on the government's dime in the Hilton where the governor's ball was being held...met Ted Nugent and took shots with the chairman of the Make-A-Wish foundation, hotel bars rock

Sweet!

 

[crysmc]

Wow, did I...gotta love Austin, I did every one my HT CCX's there...got iced in that weekend the storm hit in January, spent a few extra days on the government's dime in the Hilton where the governor's ball was being held...met Ted Nugent and took shots with the chairman of the Make-A-Wish foundation, hotel bars rock

How's the nose recovering? Girls dig the Owen Wilson look.

 

[kejo]

How's the nose recovering? Girls dig the Owen Wilson look.

ha, i was wondering how long until that came up...it's doing great, i've been told it's "distinguishing"

 

[crysmc]

ha, i was wondering how long until that came up...it's doing great, i've been told it's "distinguishing"

Hey, people pay big money for distinguishing features. If you want to drown away your sorrows, you should come out with us all tonight.