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Another year, another solo cross-country road trip. Once again, I made the journey with my dog, Kuma, from California to Florida. This was one of many of our cross-country road trips in the last couple of years and it’s sort of become a tradition.

I drive cross-country with Kuma so that she can come with me and stay with Candy and her pups for about a month over the holidays. Last year in November, Candy flew down to Tampa and we drove cross-country together back to her home in California so that we could stop by a few places on the way.

I stayed in California for about a month for Christmas and New Year’s and then it was time to go back home to Florida. I usually take about 5 days to drive back and only make stops to rest, but this time I wanted to stop by a few places to explore a little more of America and this took about 8 days.

I wanted to stop by locations that were pet-friendly as well so that Kuma could explore with me. Luckily, I found some great destinations that were dog-friendly.

ROAD TRIP ITINERARY

DAY 1: Los Angeles > Phoenix, 373 miles, 5.5 hours
DAY 2: Phoenix > Las Cruces, 388 miles, 6 hours
DAY 3: Las Cruces > Roswell, 194 miles, 3.5 hours
DAY 4: Roswell > Waco, 499 miles, 8 hours
DAY 5: Explore Waco / Magnolia Market
DAY 6: Waco > New Orleans, 507 miles, 9 hours
DAY 7: Explore New Orleans
DAY 8: New Orleans > Tampa, 657 miles, 9.5 hours

ROAD TRIP PREP

To make sure you are fully prepared for your road trip, review our ultimate packing checklist. If you are traveling with your dog, we have a great dog packing checklist as well.

If you are looking for some handy, durable and efficient travel gear, check out our favorite travel luggage we highly recommend.

Download the iExit app. This app is great if you’re driving on the interstate. It finds you automatically, shows you exits ahead, and allows for easy searching. It’s come in handy many times when I was in search for restrooms, service stations, food, and more.

POV of driver on interstate — Starting my drive across the country

THE ROAD TRIP

DAY 1 - LOS ANGELES TO PHOENIX

The first day of driving is always the easiest day. I’m super pumped to start the cross-country road trip and have a lot of energy.

If possible, try to fill up gas in Arizona and not in California. Gas prices are significantly cheaper in Arizona. As soon as I saw a gas station at Exit 1 in Arizona (about 230 miles east of Los Angeles), I stopped there to fill up and took Kuma out for a walk. If you’re hungry, there’s also a Wendy’s here too.

Ehrenberg Parker exit — First exit of Arizona going eastbound on I-10

I usually stay in hotels on my road trips, but I have many friends who live in Phoenix and one of my friends, Miracle (isn’t that the cutest name?), offered her place and she hosted an awesome party.

I try to make time to see my friends while I’m making the journey across the US since I have many friends scattered throughout the States.

Most of them are high school classmates and we have a special bond since we went to a tiny school on a military base in Misawa, Japan. My graduating class had only 50 people in attendance, so that gives you an idea of how small the school was.

My friends and I had a great time catching up and reminiscing our high school days.

Group picture of friends from high school — My awesome friends from Misawa, Japan

DAY 2 - LAS CRUCES

The next morning, I wasn’t feeling too well since I stayed up later than I usually do. Plus, I had one too many strawberry margaritas. They were just so good and it was a lot of fun hanging out with old friends again.

As time went on, I felt better. I tried to drink as much water as I could to stay hydrated and it helped. Drinking all that water also made me use the restroom multiple times, so it added more time to my drive.

In any case, I made it to Las Cruces just fine. I was tired when I arrived at my hotel but there were things I wanted to do once I got here. One thing I had to do was stop by Old Mesilla, a town where Billy the Kid was jailed.

I have been obsessed with Billy the Kid this past year and have watched many movies and listened to podcasts about his life. I have never been interested in western movies until I started learning about Billy the Kid. The more I got to know him, the more obsessed I became.

Old Mesilla is a small town, but there are two notable places here where Billy the Kid stopped by: La Posta de Mesilla and the Billy the Kid Gift Shop.

La Posta de Mesilla is now a popular restaurant in Las Cruces, but it was once a bunkhouse and stable for travelers and frequented by the likes of Billy the Kid, Pat Garret, and some other personalities of the Wild West.

Exterior of La Posta De Mesilla restaurant — La Posta de Mesilla Restaurant

Across the street from Las Posta is The Billy the Kid Gift Shop. It used to be a courthouse and jail where Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced to hang.

I walked around Old Mesilla for a bit with Kuma and checked out all the historic buildings that dated back to the mid 1800s. One of the buildings, Thunderbird de la Mesilla, is the oldest documented brick building in New Mexico from 1860.

Crystal and Kuma sitting down for a portrait — Exploring Old Mesilla with Kuma

Oldest brick building in New Mexico — New Mexico’s oldest brick building

There were other cute little shops and cafes in the area, but everything seemed to be shutting down by the time I arrived near 4pm. It was a nice and quiet walk with Kuma.

Later that evening, I had dinner with another one of my high school friends from Japan at a winery called D.H. Lescombes Winery & Bistro. It was only a mile from the hotel I was staying at, so I was happy that it was nearby.

Originally, we had plans to eat at Willow + Blaine and even made reservations, but it was cancelled the day before due to the majority of their employees catching COVID. Regardless, we had some great wine. and food at D.H. Lescombes.

Ladies holding up peace signs at the restaurant's booth — Lovely dinner at D.H. Lescombes with my Misawa friend, Janet

DAY 3 - LINCOLN HISTORIC SITE & ROSWELL

This was an ambitious day since I was planning to check out two cities in one day. My next stop was Roswell, but I wanted to stop by Lincoln County as well since it was on the way.

Lincoln County is the most famous place where Billy the Kid is known for. This is where the infamous Lincoln County War happened and it was a 2.5-hour drive from Las Cruces.

Along the route, I stopped by Billy the Kid Scenic Byways Visitor Center to get a little information about the scenic route and take a picture with Billy’s cardboard cutout.

I wanted to use the restroom here before I moved on to Lincoln County, but at the time of my visit, the restroom was closed to the public due to the pandemic. If you need to use the restroom, there is a Walmart one mile down the road.

Kuma and I taking a picture with Billy the Kid — Had to take a picture with Billy

Billy the Kid scenic byway info — Inside the visitor center

Interactive map of Billy the Kid scenic byway — Cute interactive map inside the visitor center

The Lincoln Historic Site is very small and the entire site is a quarter of a mile, so you can easily walk and explore the area. You can park at the Lincoln Historic Site Visitor Center and start your walk from there or drive and park your car at each site that peaks your interest. Most visitors were doing the latter.

There weren’t that many people visiting the historic site, so I felt like I had the entire place to myself. A lot of the museums and restaurants were closed, so that’s part of the reason why it felt like a ghost town.

Kuma and I sitting on bench on a quite street — Taking a moment to enjoy the peaceful street

It was crazy to think that this peaceful street was once declared “the most dangerous street in America” by President Rutherford B. Hayes in the 1870s and 1880s.

The most interesting museum was the Historic Lincoln County Courthouse, which also used to be Murphy’s general store. This is where Billy the Kid escaped the local courthouse, killed two deputies, and rode out of town on a stolen horse.

I could have stayed exploring the Lincoln Historic Site for a couple more hours, but I had to move on to Roswell so that I could check out a few things there too. Roswell was an hour's drive from Lincoln County and it’s a beautiful drive.

Stairs leading down to the bullet hole — The stairs leading down to the bullet hole shot by Billy

Display of Billy the Kid's book written by Pat Garrett — Billy the Kid book written by Pat Garrett

I have always known about this city because of all the alien stories and also from the show, Roswell, that Candy and I used to watch in 1999 (they also had a reboot in 2019).

The town is known for aliens because in 1947, there was an alleged UFO crash. There are many people that dismiss this, but there are also many true believers. Either way, the town embraces this story and goes all out with their alien themes.

I discovered that Roswell was a dog-friendly town and was surprised to find that dogs could even go into museums, so I was pretty excited about that.

Our first stop was the International UFO Museum and Research Center, which is probably the most popular tourist thing to do in Roswell. It’s full of information on the famous 1947 UFO crash. You’ll get the complete story of why some people believe that it was a UFO crash and not a weather balloon, as the military stated later.

Kuma with aliens — Kuma not amused by the aliens

Shelves of alien files — Loads of alien files at the UFO Museum

Blacklight tunnel inside the Spacewalk — Super cool blacklight room at Spacewalk

Not too far from the UFO Museum is the Roswell UFO Spacewalk. I actually had a lot of fun with Kuma here. It’s small and you can do the entire walkthrough in less than 60 seconds, but I thought they did a really great job with the displays and making it fun for all ages.

You can experience the Spacewalk as much as you’d like for $5. We went through 3 times and we had the place all to ourselves. I was surprised that Kuma wasn’t scared at all. She’s such a brave girl.

Finally, I stopped by the Roswell mural and a couple of Roswell welcome signs. I was trying to find the John Cerney art installation, but could not find it. I was told later that I missed it by a few miles. Oh well… next time!

Taking a picture with Kuma of the Roswell mural — Awesome mural right behind the UFO Museum

DAY 4 - DRIVE TO WACO

The next morning, I made my way to Waco, Texas. It was a 500-mile drive from Roswell and it took about 9 hours. I probably would have made it in 8 hours, but the closer I got to Waco, there was lots of construction, so it slowed down the traffic.

Along the way, I saw a billboard that was advertising a Billy the Kid Museum in Hico, Texas. I actually passed through Hico, which is about 70 miles northwest of Waco, and saw a statue that resembled Billy the Kid.

POV of driver as the sun is rising — Starting the drive early to Texas

I hopped out of the car real quick to look at the statue and noticed that most of the buildings in this little town were western-themed.

I later found out that the statue was in memory of Brushy Bill Roberts who was from Hico, Texas. Brushy Bill claimed that he was Billy the Kid in 1950, but his claim was rejected by the governor of New Mexico. Many believe that he could have been Billy the Kid and his story is promoted at the Billy the Kid Museum in Hico. I have to check this place out next time!

By the time I got to my hotel in Waco, it was getting dark, so I grabbed some food at In-N-Out Burger.

Billy statue in Hico, Texas — Billy statue in Hico

Western-themed town of Hico — Hico, Texas

DAY 6 - WACO / MAGNOLIA MARKET

I had a full day planned to explore just about everything Chip and Joanna Gaines created in Waco. Chip and Jo (from the show, Fixer Upper) have revolutionized Waco, Texas and created an amazing empire including Magnolia Market at the Silos, Magnolia Table, Little Shop on Bosque, and so much more.

I started the day with breakfast at Magnolia Table. If you’re a true Jo fan, you will need to stop by here. Joanna Gaines has her own cooking show and a cookbook that is very popular and many fans stop by here to get the full Magnolia experience.

I made a reservation a couple of weeks prior to my visit because I heard that it gets booked fast. I made a reservation at 8AM and there were already a bunch of people at the entrance ready to be seated.

Beautifully decorated Magnolia Table — Magnolia Table

The restaurant’s decor is stunning, as expected, and I loved the tiles they used for the floors. Especially the area near the restroom that had “Waco Texas” spelled out on the floor. The waitress told me that many customers take pictures around the restroom area because of the “Meet Me at Magnolia Table” sign.

I ordered the Lemon Lavender Donut Holes and the Pancake Breakfast that came with two eggs, housemade tater tots, and peppered bacon.

I was actually disappointed in the Lemon Lavender Donut Holes. It sounded amazing, but it came out right after I ordered it and it was cold. Meaning that they prepare these ahead of time and leave them in the fridge. I was expecting them to come out hot and fresh.

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Sitting at my table near a window with my breakfast — Breakfast at Magnolia Table

Floor tiles of Magnolia Restaurant that spell out Waco, Texas

Entrance to the Magnolia Table restrooms

The rest of my breakfast was great. The eggs were fresh, the pancakes were fluffy, and the tater tots were unique, but I think my disappointment in the donut holes took out my excitement for the rest of the meal. I should have ordered Jo’s Buttermilk Biscuits served with strawberry butter. That’s what people seemed to rave over.

After breakfast, I picked up Kuma and we headed to The Silos. I knew there would be a lot to explore here, but it was bigger than I had imagined. This place is humungous!

No wonder people call it the Disneyland of Fixer Upper fans. It really is a magical place full of Chip and Jo’s beautiful creations. Every single store is impeccably designed and really thought out.

Inside the Magnolia store full of home decor items — Magnolia Market store

For shopping, there’s the Magnolia store that is packed with home decor goods, kitchenware, gardening tools, and apparel. This was the original store that opened at the Silos.

Then there’s Magnolia Home and the Shops at the Silos, which are the newest additions. Magnolia Home is a home decorator’s dream. There are several displays of living rooms, dining rooms, and bedrooms that give you an idea how to decorate your home like Joanna.

Store fronts of the shops at the silos — The Shops at the Silos

Shelf of paper goods and matches — Papar goods store

Bedroom display at Magnolia Home — Magnolia Home

The Shops at the Silos is the cutest section of the area to me where they added six little retail shops. Each shop is curated by Jo with a specific style and theme in mind.

I was overwhelmed with everything The Silos had to offer. In every store I went into, I wanted to buy something. Of course, I could not do that since I had limited space in my car, but I did buy a few things like decorative pillows for my couch.

I almost spent the whole day shopping, so I was exhausted by the time I was done. I made one last stop at the Gaines’ original store, The Little Shop on Bosque, which is now a discount store of Magnolia items, and called it a day.

Me and Kuma posing in front of the silos — What a great day at Magnolia Market!

DAY 6 - DRIVE TO NEW ORLEANS

I woke up super early at 3AM to start my drive to New Orleans. The drive was going to be about 9 hours and I wanted to get started early so that I could arrive in New Orleans before the peak traffic hours started.

I’m used to starting my drive when it’s still dark outside, but this time it was a little different because I was on the highway for miles and miles. Usually, I’m on the interstate and it’s easier to see and pass big trucks.

POV of driver behind a school bus on highway — The downside of driving on highways is that you get stuck behind buses

On highways, it’s typically darker and harder to pass big trucks because it’s only two lanes, so you have to be careful of cars coming the other way when you pass.

I was a little nervous about driving into New Orleans because I was staying near downtown in French Quarter and I always have this fear of driving in big cities. But it wasn’t bad at all. It was actually pretty easy driving around the French Quarter.

POV of driver amongst French Quarter buildings — Parking in front of Hotel Monteleone for valet service

I decided to stay at Hotel Monteleone since it was a pet-friendly hotel located in the heart of the French Quarter and it was within walking distance to all the places I wanted to check out with Kuma.

It’s also a historic hotel that’s haunted, so that piqued my interest as well. I don’t necessarily believe in ghosts, but I like the idea of haunted locations. The only place I truly felt like I experienced a ghost encounter was when I took a ghost tour at the Stanley Hotel in Colorado (the hotel that gave inspiration to Stephen King’s book, The Shining). That was spooky.

Kuma and I relaxing on the hotel bed — Hotel Monteleone

Corgi in the middle of a hotel hallway — The haunted 14th floor

I went up to the 14th floor (which is actually the 13th floor) with Kuma where the ghost had been seen, but we didn’t see anything. Not that I was expecting to, but I thought I should at least give it a try and see what it was like.

Afterward, I walked around the French Quarter with Kuma so she could get some exercise and scope the area out. It was a great location near many restaurants and shops. The only thing missing was a pet relief area for Kuma. The nearest patch of grass I could find for her was a few blocks away. She was a trooper and held it in until we reached that point.

For dinner, I ate at the bar and listened to some live jazz music. The band was really good and I enjoyed the music while I ate my expensive chicken sandwich. Originally, I wanted to sit at the Carousel Bar, but it was way too packed.

Live jazz music in lounge — Live jazz band at Hotel Monteleone

DAY 7 - NEW ORLEANS

I had the perfect itinerary planned to spend one day in New Orleans with Kuma. It was a full day of activities and eating. Everything went according to plan except for the Rodrigue Studio. It was closed due to the pandemic; another location on this trip where too many employees caught the COVID virus.

Walking down an empty street in New Orleans with Kuma — Photoshoot with Kuma

We started the morning with a photoshoot that I booked through an Airbnb Experience. I always like to book these because they are usually reasonably priced and the perfect way to get photos of yourself on a solo trip. I was so happy I was able to bring Kuma with me too.

Next, we had breakfast at Cafe Amelie (which sadly closed shortly after I visited) and had dessert at one of the most famous places in New Orleans: Cafe Du Monde. You cannot leave New Orleans without having one of their beignets. It’s seriously the best in the world.

Holding a bag of Cafe Du Monde beignets — The beignets in the world

Kuma sitting by the Mississippi River — The Moonwalk Riverfront Park

Display of custom dog treats — Cute and creative dog treats at Southern Paws

After all that food, we walked it off at The Moonwalk Riverfront Park and stopped by an art gallery and pet boutique store. To end the day, we stopped by a voodoo store just for kicks since that is one of the things New Orleans is known for.

In the evening, I took Kuma back to the hotel and I had dinner at Irene’s, which was right around the corner. I sat at the bar and had the best meal from this trip. The chicken dish and banana dessert were so delicious. The service was friendly and genuine too. I highly recommend this restaurant if you’re in the French Quarter area.

Bar at Irene's resaurant — Irene’s bar area

Chicken dish plated with rosemary and potatoes — Amazing food at Irene’s

DAY 8 - DRIVE HOME TO TAMPA

I started the drive early again and I’m glad I did because the sunrise over the bridge in Mobile, Alabama was absolutely gorgeous. My favorite parts of driving on this last leg of the road trip are going under the tunnel and over the bridge in Mobile and also crossing the bridge in Pensacola. The views are almost always breathtaking.

Sunrise on bridge — Gorgeous sunrise in Mobile, Alabama

I originally wanted to stop by Pensacola for a day before heading down to Tampa, but the weather was going to be terrible with heavy thunderstorms. I would not have been able to any of the things I had planned with friends because a lot of those plans were for outdoor eateries and bar hopping in downtown Pensacola.

Pet relief area at Buc-ee's — Buc-ee’s pet relief area

Sadly, I had to cancel plans with my friends and head straight home to Tampa. I thought the drive would drag on since it was the longest leg of the road trip, but it wasn’t bad at all.

I made a couple of stops at Buc-ee’s in Alabama and Busy Bee’s in Florida where I knew there would be a nice pet relief area, clean restrooms, and plenty of gas pumps.

Me and Kuma in the car — Almost home in Tampa

This was the best solo road trip I’ve had to date because I took extra time to explore some areas with Kuma. I can’t wait to plan the next cross-country road trip to explore more areas of America!

Before I knew it, I was home. It’s always bittersweet at the end of a road trip. I missed my home and was happy to be back, but also sad that the adventure had come to an end.