If the specific sites you've mentioned are what you want to see, then so be it. and leaving Phoenix to the south certainly affords you ample opportunities to see back roads and small towns. Once you get out of Phoenix that is. To that end, I'd suggest you leave town on US-60 east past Apache Junction and then take AZ-79 down to Tucson. This is, in fact, the way I routinely go between Tucson and Phoenix and it is much more relaxed than I-10 but still has a 65 mph speed limit. At Florence, you might want to consider a side trip to Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in Coolidge. In Tucson you might also want to ride the loop road (Cactus Forest Drive) in the east unit of Saguaro National Park. That would also set you up to continue south on Old Spanish Trail through Vail and, after a very short stint on I-10, AZ-83 to Sonoita and east on AZ-82 to Tombstone. From there, AZ-80 loops south through the mining town of Bisbee, close to the Mexican border and on into New Mexico. NM-9 provides the next alternative to I-10 and will take you to El Paso through Columbus NM which Pancho Villa invaded in the early 20th century. Next you might like NM-28 up the west bank of the Rio Grand to Las Cruces and then US-70 past White Sands National Monument to Roswell.

East of Roswell, you've got a lot of arid open country with towns that are few, far between and, depending on the state of the local oil patch, in various states of decay. US-380/US-84 and a bit of I-20 provides the most efficient route to Abilene, but from there you'll probably want to start running a bit farther south so as to avoid the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Again, US-84 is perhaps your best bet in this area taking you through Waco and on eastbound, but it won't be until east Texas that things start to green up. Once you cross I-45 and get to Palestine, US-287 would take you down past Davy Crockett National Forest to Beaumont where US-90 (partially duplexed with I-10) would get you into southwest Louisiana where the Creole Nature Trail provides several routes through Bayou Country and on into New Orleans.

Specific towns to stop in will depend on the route you finally choose to take.

AZBuck