NC to California

OK, here it goes. Me and a buddy of mine are heading west for about month. We are leaving Greensboro, NC on July 9th and have to be back on August 4th. Neither one of us have ever taken a road trip of such magnitude and would welcome any suggestions on how to better the trip.
Our tentative schedule is to take I-40 to Memphis the first day. We will probably just hang out on Beale St. that night and hit the road early naxt morning.
Day 2 we plan on driving to Oklahoma City and staying the night. Definately going to see the memorial but have no other plans for the day. Is there anywhere that we should check out on the way? Can anyone recomend a cheap place to stay. Is there a hostel in or around downtown?
Day 3 we are on to New Mexico. Originally had planned to go to Albuquerque but thought that Sante Fe might be worth the detour.
On Day 4 we are heading to Flagstaff, Az. Does anyone know if we can take Route 66 from Sante Fe to Flagstaff. Where should we stop in between? What to do in Flagstaff. Is there any good live music?
Next day, Day # 5 we are on to the canyon. We are staying one day on the south rim, hiking down to the bottom the next day where we will hopefully stay at the Phantom Lodge, then back up via the Bright Angel Trail and stay another night on the rim. First question, what should we do that first day? We will get to the south rim at around 11:00 AM and have all day to kill. Second question, how hard of a hike is the South Khaibab trail? I am in decent shape through playing and coaching soccer but have very limited hiking experience. How long will it take me to get down to the bottom?

It is getting late so I will wrap this up. I will spell out the rest of the trip later but I would welcome any and all suggestions, comments, help or anything else to make this a memorable trip.

Cheers,
Keith

You can find information on Route 66 at these websites:


http://www.americansouthwest.net/new_mexico/route_66/index.html

http://www.route66usa.com/arizona.html

http://www.historic66.com/new-mexico/


I would suggest taking Hwy 89 north from Flagstaff and then taking the Hwy 395 loop to Sunset Crater and Wupakti National Monument and entering the Grand Canyon at Cameron and stopping at all the scenic overlooks on the way.

Once you reach the main visitor center at the Grand Canyon take the shuttle bus to Hermits Rest or you can hike the trail along the rim and catch the shuttle bus a different points if you get tired.

Utahtea

I forgot to mention that you better get reservations for Phantom Ranch if you plan on hiking down the canyon.

Utahtea

A couple of professional roadtrippers just completed a 66-day trip along Route 66 from Santa Monica to Chicago. Daily logs are posted on their website, complete with photos and descriptions of what to see. Be sure and check it out for more information. The URL for the area around Flagstaff can be found at http://www.cart66pf.org/66caravan/roadlog09.htm