Orange County to Texas-First time!

[mrubio79]

Hi Everyone! So glad to have found a forum that may be able to help with my first road trip out through the southwest. We will be travelling in Late June (26-29) so we are both prepared for some serious heat. I think we'll be driving with very little clothes on once we get to New Mexico.
When I was alot younger my family made that drive out there in july/august, and we did ALOT of night driving to avoid the heat.
My boyfriend and I are driving from Orange County (near the 5, 55 and 405) to East Texas (40 miles north of Houston).

What are some really good tips for first time lovebird roadtrippers?

My Jetta has about 55K miles on it right now. It's been driven pretty gently the 6 years i've had it. And I am having it serviced this week for new timing belt, oil change, tire pressure and overall condition. Should I talk to my mechanic about any additional service?