Road trips are always going to be a staple of travel when you want to escape the day-to-day for a weekend getaway… and do not want to pay the premium cost of flying. Besides, what is the difference between 16 hours in a car versus two hours on a plane, memories. At least that’s what we will keep telling ourselves. 

I am a Meow Wolf fan, and if you don’t know what Meow Wolf is, it is a puzzling story that gets you to explore, research and find clues to solve a mystery through another world of pronormal. But in my case, it’s like an adult’s playground to get lost and wander through different styles of art and creativity. Conversing with some friends about this, we discovered there was more than one location and what it would take to travel to all destinations. However, seeing that my friends have not experienced such bizarre creativity, I felt it was necessary to start with the original in Santa Fe, New Mexico before exploring the other 3 in Denver, Colorado, Grapevine, Texas & Las Vegas, Nevada. 

The Plan 

Part of our original plan was to take a sedan that was reaching the near end of its loan life cycle in our media fleet, but with a snowstorm showing up in the weather forecast I knew it would be better to have something that was high riding with some off-road chops. With just a few days left before departure, a last-minute request put us in the 2024 Kia Telluride SX Prestige X-Pro. I thought “perfect” with its torque-vectoring like all-wheel drive, chunky all-terrain tires and a lockable differential, it is going to be a beast on the snowy roads…. 

The day before we left, the snowstorm was removed from the forecast… 

On one hand we were blessed – the snowstorm in question was due to hit the day of our departure back home and appeared it was going to span the entire northern region from Flagstaff, AZ to Albuquerque, NM – and for someone that has driven through snowstorms, that was going to be a long and tiring 400-mile stretch. On the other hand, I was really looking forward to a challenge.  

The Car 

2023 was a big year for the Kia Telluride as it received a huge overhaul with an exterior and interior design upgrade as well as a couple off-road trim options added to the mix with the X-Line & and X-Pro. The X-Line starts at $45,885 in a mid-grade EX badge and is available on both the SX and SX Prestige. However, with our example being equipped with the X-Pro option, it is only available on the SX and SX Prestige starting at $50,285. The difference between the two is the X-Line brings in higher ground clearance, taller roof rails and Downhill Brake Control while the X-Pro adds increased towing capacity from 5,000lbs to 5,500lbs with a Tow Mode and those all-terrain tires with black 18-inch wheels.  

The most dramatic change to the Telluride is its interior featuring a more premium look and appeal over the previous model. Our example SX Prestige X-Pro featured one large display panel with two 11.3-inch screens for the infotainment system and cluster display. The interior is also broken up by nicely appointed wood and metal trim that give a contemporary, yet classy look.  

Even though we had 7 seats to fill, we only occupied 3 of them, given any more and the trunk would have been overloaded. Why you ask our trunk was so full for just three people and a weekend? Our female passenger of the group felt it was necessary to pack extra luggage just for her shoes. It’s good to have options I guess. Even if we managed to fill up all the seats, the Telluride is very roomy with loads of spaces and passenger comfort. The second row as the ability to slide forward and backward to provide additional leg room for third row passengers. Second row seats also can recline, which was well received during our night time driving.  

In a turbocharged world, its good to see that naturally aspirated engines are still a thing and the 3.8-liter V-6 found in the Telluride may not be a Speedy Gonzalos type, but it sure packs a hardy punch when things needed to get moving. Unchanged for 2023/2024 this engine continues to produce 291-horsepower with 262 lbs-ft of torque through a 8-speed automatic transmission.  

The Drive 

The drive to Santa Fe from Phoenix as about as entertaining as this article, pretty much uneventful. Its essentially two interstates and a highway, basically two right turns and a left. Our first leg brought 200-miles into our journey into Flagstaff where we stopped for fuel and swapped driver where I could take a nap and rest up for the next swap.  

The Telluride just eats up the miles with its supple ride qualities and effortless performance to climb the mountain roads into Flagstaff. Even though the Telluride is not equipped with massaging seats, it does feature an agronomic driver seat that engages after an hour of driving to stimulate the driver and keep them alert – that was a nifty surprise. And with an average of 23-mpg’s it was smooth sailing all the way to Albuquerque where we stayed the night before finishing our venture north.  

Upon arrival in Santa Fe, it was apparent that it had snowed just a few days prior; unfortunately, there was not enough of it to have fun in nor test the Tellurides all-wheel drive system. But like tourists we were, the only thing to do in Santa Fe was to visit go hiking, go shopping, go eating and visit Meow Wolf… and since it was far too cold for hiking, we did the other three instead.  

Cons: Pricy at $55,045 – Apple CarPlay & Android Auto still requires a cord – not very fuel efficient with a total of 20.8-mpg’s combined. 

Pros: Better Off-Road Chops – more premium than it should be – fantastic safety features & autonomous driving aids.  

The drive back was of course was the least anticipated of the trip even though we had our feel for Santa Fe and its limitations on any kind of fun. The Telluride was our hardy companion the whole way with its super cozy interior and highly impressive autonomous driving features with the adaptive cruise control system and lane change assist feature – just flick the blinker and let the car do the change of lanes for you. And since we were looking at 10-hours in the car driving back, we took note to the driver needs a break warning that would come on about every 3-hours – it made for a great reminder to get out and stretch our legs.