Help! Scenic drive from Santa Fe, NM to New Orleans in early Oct!?!

[shelbycheri]

I'm moving from Southern California to Washington DC in early Oct. and I'm turning it into a road trip and a chance to visit friends! The one area I'm having trouble mapping out is from Santa Fe, NM to NOLA! I want to drive a very scenic route but I'm having trouble finding info that doesn't involve the lonely Texas highways. I am totally open and would love to make the drive in 2 days, 1 night so I would love a recommendation on a good overnight spot? If there are suggestions on 2 nights, 3 days I'm open to those suggestions as well. Thanks in advance!!

[glc]

Welcome!

By fastest route, this is a long 2 days - over 1100 miles. That would be US-285 to I-40 to Amarillo, US-287 to Dallas, I-20 to Shreveport, and I-49 to I-10. Suggested overnight would be in the Dallas area. Adding a day would open up some alternates.