need input for my upcoming ride to El Paso

[james3370]

I'll be riding my Harley from Nashville to Ft Bliss in a few months. It's about 1300 miles, which I could do in 2 days if I absolutely HAD to, but I'm gonna take about 4 maybe 5 days to do it.

here is the route - http://goo.gl/maps/kDYkN

Here are my possible breakdowns for each day:

Day 1: Nashville -> Memphis (210 miles / 3.5 hours)
Day 2: Memphis -> Dallas (460 miles / 8.0 hours)
Day 3: Dallas -> Odessa (360 miles / 6.0 hours)
Day 4: Odessa -> Ft Bliss (285 miles / 4.25 hours)

Day 1: Nashville -> Memphis (210 miles / 3.5 hours)
Day 2: Memphis -> Texarkana (285 miles / 5.0 hours)
Day 3: Texarkana -> Fort Worth (210 miles / 3.5 hours)
Day 4: Fort Worth -> Odessa (325 miles / 5.5 hours)
Day 5: Odessa -> Ft Bliss (285 miles / 4.25 hours)

I'm buying a nice tent & I plan on staying at KOA campgrounds almost exclusively (either in tent or cabin at the location depending on the weather) not only for the financial standpoint & also the bike security (rather have the bike parked next to my tent/cabin than in some hotel/motel parking lot).

I have plotted out all the KOA campgrounds along with a hotel or 2 at each probably stop just in case. I have also plotted all the Harley dealerships & Hooters locations since I am starting to collect shirts from each wherever I go.

So what I need are some "touristy" ideas for stuff to do/see along my route. I already know that I'm gonna make a stop in Memphis to check out Graceland, so does anybody have any other recommendations?

Possible stops I need ideas for:

* Memphis (in addition to Graceland)
* Little Rock, AR
* Texarkana, TX/AR
* Dallas, TX
* Fort Worth, TX
* Abilene, TX
* Odessa, TX

 

[Dimitrios91]

You could always shoot up north and say hello to my father for me, he's in Owensboro, KY lol. I never honestly stopped heading down that direction other then at Indian State Park for a night. Beautiful country no matter where you pull over. Quickest way to see things is to find a Chamber of Commerce in the area you are at. Or simply ask while eating in a restaurant or at a gas station. Sounds like an awesome ride, g'luck on your journey

 

[hollister]

Not much to see in el paso.I live in el paso. But in alamagordo , An hour away , u have a space museum and white sand which is pretty cool. I can say that we are in a mansoon season , so dress for rain. Also stay out of mexico as they would most likely shoot you for your bike. I do know Ft.Bliss pretty good though and am willing to let you rest here at my pad for a beer. Ft. Bliss like 15 minutes away from me. Also Barnett Harley is 5 Min. from my house. They have the most bikes for sale in the country and i have some gossip about Mr.Barnett.

 

[james3370]

Not much to see in el paso.I live in el paso. But in alamagordo , An hour away , u have a space museum and white sand which is pretty cool. I can say that we are in a mansoon season , so dress for rain. Also stay out of mexico as they would most likely shoot you for your bike. I do know Ft.Bliss pretty good though and am willing to let you rest here at my pad for a beer. Ft. Bliss like 15 minutes away from me. Also Barnett Harley is 5 Min. from my house. They have the most bikes for sale in the country and i have some gossip about Mr.Barnett.

Thanks, but I'm being stationed at Ft Bliss so it will be my permanent stop. The trip won't be made till Oct 29-Nov 2 so I'm hoping the weather will be a little better. I've never been thru this part of the country at all (much less this time of the year), so I'm not sure what to expect weather-wise :/

Barnett is one of the places I plan on checking out once I get settled in at Bliss & I'll add Alamagordo to my list of things to get out & see too. I have a buddy who manages a club up in Las Cruces, so I plan on venturing up that way as well.

any other suggestions?

 

[hollister]

The daughter of Mr. Barnett owns a harley shop in Cruses. El Paso is a quite town and will be much cooler in Oct. And yes white sands missle range is cool. I can say that if your not living on base then the east side would be best. I own a company that services houses on Ft.Bliss. So i do know it real well. As a fellow reefer i would love to meet you.

lancehollister18@gmail.com 915-856-3500

GL.......

 

[james3370]

cool....from what I've been told, I'll be working on the upper northeast side of Biggs so I started looking for nice apts either in the vicinity of Purple Heart Blvd & Railroad Dr or the other end of Purple Heart Blvd near Montana Ave.

We're on the housing list, but I've been told it's 4-6 month wait & we are only allowed a 2bdrm. We really want a 3bdrm so we will have a bit of extra space in case my wife's other daughter comes to visit during the summer & also just to have extra space for storage etc.

Any suggestions you have for that would be appreciated