Las Cruces, NM to Fort Stockton, TX by Motorcycle

Today we began a trip from Las Cruces, NM to Fort Stockton with an ultimate destination of Galveston, Tx.  The trip to Fort Stockton was 287 miles.  The trip include mostly Interstate travel along I-10.  The trip is rather easy with the exception of trying to get through El Paso, Texas along I-10.  Today a large stretch of I-10 was closed in El Paso and the detour took traffic through the outskirts of the city.

I exited the highway at the Transmountain Road exit 6.  Transmountain is a very nice road around El Paso and through the Franklin Mountain State Park.  The speed limit is 55 along the curved road that is a gradual climb to through the mountain pass.  The road allows you to look down upon the heart of El Paso giving you a breath taking view.  Several pull outs along Transmountain allow you to pull off and take pictures or just take in the beautiful view.

After coming through the pass on Transmountain we took US 54 west and backtracked our way pass the El Paso International Airport and back on I-10 East.  The detour took longer that expected, but once back on I-10 the travel was routine.  Just east of El Paso we stopped for gas as the Rest Stops and Towns along the I-10 stretch of road is scarce.

Once you are well outside the city limits the speed limit increased to 80 MPH.  This allows the light traffic the opportunity to move along the Interstate.  For the motorcyclist who likes speed this is a perfect trip to get on the throttle without a great deal of worry about speeding.  This route also includes a Boarder Patrol Check point prior to the I-10 and I-20 split.

The scenery is classic dessert.  Yucca plants abound along the highway.  This May 13th the brush was green despite the high temperature and recent lack of rain.  There are views of mountains along the way that break up the long stretches of ranches the I-10 cuts through.  Occasional glimpses of pea an farmers within large ranches is breathtaking.

Once we arrived in Fort Stockton we choose a hotel on the west side of the city allowing us easy access to a gas station for a morning fill up prior to beginning our trip to San Antonio.