lphilpot

In a couple of weeks, I'll be leaving Pineville, LA for Fort Davis, TX and I'd like some route feedback. I've made this trip virtually every spring since 1989 and have always (with one entirely forgettable exception ) gone via I-10 from Houston through San Antonio westward. I spend the night typically in Sonora (this year, Ozona) so it splits the trip about 600 miles the first day and 250 the second. However, on a map it's clear that this route is farther south than necessary, and I'm looking at an alternate.

Here's what I usually do :

TX 63 / US 190 from the Sabine River to Livingston
US 59 south to Houston
I-10 west to Balmorhea
TX 17 south to Fort Davis

Here's what I'm considering :

To Livingston as usual
US 190 on west to Huntsville
TX 30 west to College Station
TX 6 / US 190 northwest up to Hearne*
US 190 / 79 southwest to Austin (route through Austin metro TBA)*
US 290 on west to I-10 jct about 20 miles east of Junction, TX
West to Fort Davis as before

* Unfortunately, there's apparently no major route between College Station and Austin without heading significantly north or south.

Any tips/feedback on the road conditions, estimated congestion, driving speeds, etc. headed west between Livingston and I-10?

This route would save me about 30 to 40 miles on the first day, not to mention avoiding Houston/SAT entirely. Although that's not a huge difference, given a 600+ mile drive it's enough to get my attention. Plus, after 17 or so trips out to Fort Davis, a change of scenery would be nice.

BUT --- I don't want to find myself getting a long time behind with such a relatively long way to drive. Adding an hour to a two hour drive is one thing, adding it unnecessarily to a 10 hour drive is something else...

I'll be driving on a Saturday, entering Texas about 9:30 am or so. This is in a pickup truck, BTW, not an RV - I can easily match freeway traffic (if desired! :-), etc.

Thanks for any feedback.

P.S. - I'm getting my route data not from an "official" Texas roadmap, but from MS Streets & Trips 2006 software. It's usually pretty good, but any corrections are welcome.

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Len Philpot
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