<i>I'm shocked that no one has mentioned Guadalupe Mountains National Park.</i>

I'm not. Few people (even Texans) get to that part of the state. Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm.

<i>Marfa, for me at least was a bit of a let down. I would say skip it.</i>

Marfa was a disappointment to me too, but I wouldn't discourage anybody from deciding for themselves about this over-publicized town.

Thanks for sharing this great information about a beautiful region. You make me eager to go back there.

HTtY

Lol hey!
It is shocking no one mentioned Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

The original poster said "We also LOVE nature and national parks but don’t want to go too out of our way for it this time around since this trip is more about discovering cities. If there is anything monumentally gorgeous nearby please let us know!", and GMNP is only 18.7 miles off the route they would be travelling anyway (and monumentally gorgeous), while others recommended Big Bend and that is a minimum of 70 miles out of the way.

In my next comment I also did recommend stopping by Marfa and Alpine as an alternative to something else.

Thanks for your comment
RST Radio

Having just driven from California to Austin and back in December/January, I also think your itinerary is very ambitious.

There's a lot of gorgeous nature near Santa Fe (Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks, Valles Caldera, Banadalier) but I'm not sure if you'll have time for them. Our favorite meals in Santa Fe were at Paper Dosa, La Boca and its sister restaurant, Taberna.

I second (or third) visiting White Sands National Monument.

Count me as another person who thought Marfa was kind of meh. I certainly wouldn't drive all the way across the nothingness of West Texas just to see Marfa but if you're driving across it anyway and want to stick with towns/cities, I guess Marfa is a logical stop. Nearby Davis Mountains State Park is very scenic. It's more than 4-5 hours from Marfa to Austin or Dallas.

For BBQ, we really liked Valentina's Tex Mex (it's a truck) in Austin. McKinney Falls is pretty and good for a short visit. Much of the trails are still inaccessible due to flood damage but you can walk out to the falls.