This goes way back, when I was a teen..
We were driving from Buffalo to Albuquerque and I remember staying in Springfield MO. So we must have driven through the panhandle. It’s the most direct route and that is the only one my parents would have taken.
That explains the terrain then. Y’All should have taken the scenic route via Texarkanna to El Paso🤠
https://www.distance-cities.com/distance-texarkana-tx-to-el-paso-tx