Salt, Sand & Starlight — LA → Dallas

Day by dayThe Route, Interactive

Pick a day — every stop is pinned. Tap a pin or card for the photo, menu highlights, and links. Tap an itinerary card below to flip it over for photos.

☕ coffee · 🍽 food · ⭐ sights · 🥾 hikes. Photos and menu highlights are on-page; each stop also links out — AllTrails for hikes, Tripadvisor for sights, Yelp for food, “Go” for directions.

Phase 3 · Days 22–31Texas

Day 22 rolls down from Amarillo (6:00 with a charge stop) and then it's your turf — ten days, no alarm clocks, no more odometer, sub in your own spots freely. The greatest hits: Pecan Lodge brisket in Deep Ellum (in line by 10:30), the Fort Worth Stockyards cattle drive and a Cowtown Coliseum rodeo on a Friday night, the Arts District and Reunion Tower after dark, a Rangers game under the Globe Life roof.

October bonus: the State Fair of Texas runs through mid-month — Big Tex, Fletcher's corny dogs, fried-everything, the Texas Star ferris wheel at dusk. It is exactly as much as it sounds, in the best way.

Fill the rest with José on Lovers Lane margaritas, Katy Trail walks, NorthPark if she wants the great American mall, White Rock Lake mornings, and a farewell dinner at Monarch on the 49th floor — the whole city as the backdrop. Day 31: DFW send-off, one stop home to Bali.

ReferenceLogistics

Drive times — Cybertruck, with Supercharging

Times include charge stops (~20–30 min each; plug in, get coffee): LA→Anaheim 0:45 · Anaheim→San Diego 1:30 · San Diego→Vegas 5:30 (charge Barstow — it's next to the In-N-Out, obviously) · Vegas→Springdale 2:30 · Springdale→Page 2:15 · Page→GC South Rim 2:30 · GC→Sedona 2:15 (top up in Flagstaff) · Sedona→White Sands ~7:00, the long one (charge Tucson + Las Cruces) · White Sands→Carlsbad 3:00 · Carlsbad→Santa Fe 5:00 (charge in Roswell — aliens and electrons) · Santa Fe→Boulder ~6:30 with the dunes stop (charge Pueblo) · Denver→Amarillo 7:30 (charge Trinidad + Amarillo) · Amarillo→Dallas 6:00 (charge Childress). The I-15/I-10/I-25/I-40 Supercharger corridors are all solid; the only thin stretch is around the caverns — leave Carlsbad topped up.

Money-out timeline

Everything runs on Marriott flexible rates and cancellable reservations. Actual money committed before travel: Disneyland tickets, the Antelope Canyon tour (~$100–150/pp), Carlsbad Caverns timed entry (a few dollars), and show tickets. Nothing else is at risk until you choose it to be.

Before you goThe Plan

Book-ahead list (in order of urgency)

Disneyland date ticket + park reservation · Upper Antelope Canyon tour (weeks out, late-morning slot) · El Tovar room + dining · Carlsbad Caverns timed entry (recreation.gov) · "O" by Cirque du Soleil · Elote Cafe, Sedona · Felix, Venice · Angels Landing day-before lottery (enter while in Springdale) · Watchman Campground if camping (recreation.gov) · RMNP timed entry only if Sky Pond happens before mid-October · car transport Dallas→LA (2–3 weeks out).

Season & pacing — October / November

Timed for fall: the deserts are kind all day (dawn starts become optional, not survival), Sedona and Zion hit peak gold, the Carlsbad bat flight still runs into late October, and Dallas gets the State Fair. Pack layers for Boulder — first snow is possible and it's the best kind. And nothing here is a speed run: every stop holds an extra night happily; that's why every booking is flexible.

Every spot is a long-running institution, but confirm hours and reservations before you go — scenes shift.

Where we sleepHotels — Marriott, Courtyard tier & up

Nights	Stop	Property
1–5	Santa Monica	Le Méridien Delfina (or Marina del Rey Marriott)
6	Anaheim	Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance
7	San Diego	San Diego Marriott Gaslamp Quarter
8–9	Las Vegas	Marriott's Grand Chateau (splurge: The Cosmopolitan)
10–11	Springdale (Zion)	SpringHill Suites Springdale (the only Marriott in town — Courtyard-tier, red-cliff views)
12–13	Page, AZ	Courtyard Page at Lake Powell
14	Grand Canyon	El Tovar in-park (the one worthwhile non-Marriott night) or Courtyard Flagstaff
15–16	Sedona	Courtyard Sedona
17	Las Cruces (White Sands)	Courtyard Las Cruces at NMSU
18	Santa Fe	Courtyard Santa Fe
19	Boulder	Boulder Marriott
20	Denver	Courtyard Denver Downtown
21	Amarillo	Courtyard Amarillo Downtown
22–31	Dallas	Home

All flexible rates. Each day card above also shows that night's bed. 🛏

Upgrade tier — Renaissance / JW / Autograph

When a night deserves more: Santa Monica — JW Marriott Le Merigot, steps off the beach · Anaheim — JW Marriott Anaheim Resort · San Diego — Renaissance San Diego Downtown · Vegas — The Cosmopolitan (Autograph) or JW Marriott Las Vegas in Summerlin · Santa Fe — La Posada de Santa Fe (Tribute Portfolio; adobe casitas, spa, two blocks off Canyon Road — the romantic pick of the whole trip) · Denver — Renaissance Denver Downtown, inside a 1915 bank hall with the vault still in the basement.

Boutique & Airbnb — the niche nights

Where a house beats a hotel, search these: Springdale — a casita under the Watchman, red cliffs from the hot tub · Sedona — an adobe with a Cathedral Rock view in West Sedona, or a creekside house up Oak Creek Canyon · Santa Fe — a 200-year-old adobe casita with a kiva fireplace near Canyon Road (October nights want a fire) · Boulder — the historic Chautauqua cottages at the literal base of the Flatirons, book direct · Alamogordo — an off-grid desert dome with dunes-facing stargazing decks.

Cybertruck camp nights — the killer sites

Camp mode + a mattress in the bed changes the math. The great ones on this route: Lone Rock Beach, Lake Powell — drive onto the sand and camp at the waterline (this is the one; the truck was built for it) · Watchman Campground, Zion — under the cliffs, walkable to the shuttle (reserve) · Piñon Flats or the Medano Pass primitive road, Great Sand Dunes — 4WD-only sites against the dunefield, zero light pollution · Oliver Lee Memorial State Park near Alamogordo — canyon-mouth sites facing the white sands across the basin · Forest Road 525, Sedona — free dispersed sites with red-rock sunrise. October is peak camping weather everywhere on this list.