Texas Road Trip from Waco, TX to Amarillo, TX

If you have never visited Texas, you need to go.  Texas does offer a lot.  It is the 2nd largest US state by area(Alaska is #1) and 2nd largest US state by population(California is #1).  Texas shares borders with the states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, the country of Mexico and has a coastline with the Gulf of Mexico.  There are "2" National Parks in Texas, Guadalupe National Park and Big Bend, and more than "80" state parks.  

There are "16" interstate highways in Texas, as well as "45" U.S. highways.

As you can see, there are some great road trips that you can take throughout Texas.  You can do a one day road trip or a 7+ days road trip.  The choice is yours.

One of the day trips that my husband and I drove was from Waco, Texas to Amarillo, Texas was on Highway 6.  We chose to take the US highways instead of traveling the interstate.  Highway 6 runs from the Texas/Oklahoma border to northwest of Galveston, Texas(located on the Gulf of Mexico).  We were driving north Highway 6 to Interstate-20 and then we would change highways to arrive in Amarillo.

The 425 miles to Amarillo was very scenic.  We drove through so many small towns and each town had its own story and was very unique.  It was another hot and bright sunny day as we began driving northwest on Highway 6. 

Leaving Waco, Texas, the first town that we came to was Valley Mills.  This lovely town has a population of about 1,200.  It is the 749th largest city in Texas.  It is named for a flour mill that was established on the banks of the Bosque River.  Driving through the downtown, I enjoyed seeing the various murals

As you drive through these small towns, you wonder how they thrive.  There is a charm of no traffic, the quaint little stores and the openness of the surroundings.

Each town had its own personality.  It was interesting trying to capture all the "Welcome" signs as you drove into the town.  You could tell that each town took pride in welcoming people into their surroundings.  The courthouses were very impressive.  You can understand why these buildings were the center of downtown.  This was the area where everyone would come and meet up with family and friends.

Approaching Dublin, you could see the outline of a shamrock.  This town was a little larger than Valley Mills.  It had a population of 3,700.  As I travel through these towns, I wonder how did it get its name?  After googling "why was Dublin, Texas named Dublin?"  This is what google said "Dublin was founded in 1854 by A.H. Dobkins and named in 1860, probably for the warning cry at Indian raids, 'Double In' the cattle.  Thus was the town named, first spelled 'Doubling' and later changed to its present spelling."  Some other interesting facts are that Dublin is the former home of the world's oldest Dr. Pepper bottling plant and well-known golfer, Ben Hogan, lived here before moving to Ft. Worth, Texas.  The largest Ben Hogan museum in the world is in Dublin.

As you drive these two lane roads, you need to be alert and observant.  You never know when you are going to get behind an 18-wheeler or tractor.  Speed limit ranges from 55 to 75 mph.  As you pass through these small towns, the speed limit does drop to 35.  So be on the look out for a policeman, who may want to pull you over for speeding through their lovely town.

We went through several other small towns before reaching Cisco, Texas.  Cisco has a population of 3,900.  An interesting fact about Cisco is that Conrad Hilton bought his first hotel in this small town in 1919.  It was the Mobley Hotel with 40 rooms.  Now look at the success of Hilton.  The Hilton's have property all around the world.

After driving about 5 hours, we saw the dark clouds and lightning to the north.  We were headed into a Texas thunderstorm.  As we left the town of Anson, the sky opened up and the sheets of rain began.  Driving against the strong winds, pouring rain and 50 degree drop in temperature, we finally made it to Amarillo.  It had been a long eight hour drive.  The towns that we drove through and all the different landmarks made this trip worth it.  You can always turn a long day of driving into something entertaining!  Making it into a fun road trip made all the difference!