I began typing up an extensive report of my trip when I was done, but I found myself only half way done, and planned on finishing it later.

I agree with the comment about Helen, GA -- it's a fun town, especially in the winter. I'm not sure if it's open in February, but consider the Tallulah Gorge as well -- it's pretty close to Helen.

I chose to go the Southernmost route through Bama, Miss, Louisiana, Texas, OK, Texas again, NM, Colorado, then Utah.

Here is my incomplete work from my trip report -- it may or may not help. It was quite lengthly already, so I just included the parts that pertain to you.

Alabama: Guess what? This was my first time to Alabama too. I noticed the geography of Alabama was slightly different than Florida, less pines, and more of something else. I kept on I-10 through the state, and went through Mobile, and my only tunnel on the trip. I thought Mobile was a really neat town, and I was impressed by the large seaport that it had. In retrospect, I wish I would have jumped on I-20W in Mobile, as you will come to understand later on.

Mississippi: Sorry guys, but I have vague recollections of Mississippi. I didn't spend much time going through there on I-10, but I do remember stopping for lunch at a Wendy's in Gulfport if that counts for anything.

Louisiana: Continuing Westward on I-10 I entered Louisiana, which certainly did not live up to my expectations. I didn't see much Katrina damage along I-10, but I did go over a LOOONG 20+ mile stretch of bridge over swamp just north of New Orleans. Thankfully there were no accidents while I was on it. What on Earth do they do if there is an accident on there? It must be a mess.

I then passed through Baton Rouge, and crossed the Mississippi River (which seemed like a decent milestone) and proceeded North on to I-49 for an endless number of miles. I would not recommend this stretch of road even to my worst enemy. The drive was excruciatingly boring, through a vast expanse of nothingness, and very few places to stop to take a break. I never realized how large Louisiana is until I drove this stretch of road. My trip on I-49 finally ended when I reached Shreveport around 8pm on day 2 to connect with I-20. I was high on caffeine and decided to push on in to Texas before calling it a night (I think mostly because I wanted to be in 5 states in one day).

East Texas: Finding a hotel room in East Texas along I-20 was more work than I expected. Unfortunately I had to drive around for nearly an hour before finding a vacant room at a reasonable rate. I was very surprised by how far Eastward the Dallas sprawl is in Texas. I don't recall very many isolated areas along East Texas along I-20.

Then came the part that I was most not looking forward to: going through Dallas. I was in Dallas a few weeks prior to my trip/move, and I recall the traffic being absolutely horrific. Luckily I made it to Dallas mid-day, and did not encounter much traffic along the interstates. Once I got to Dallas I proceeded North on to I-35 headed towards Oklahoma City. As I approached Oklahoma, it was very noticeable that the terrain was opening up, and that the horizons were much longer. Being from Florida, long horizons is not something I ever encounter much, and it was amazing to me looking out over ranch land for miles on end.

Oklahoma: Who would have thought Southern Oklahoma would be one of the more amazing places I have visited? This stretch of I-35 through the southern parts of Oklahoma is some of the most scenic driving I have ever done. At this point I noticed the terrain changing a bit, approaching some rocky hills that have obviously been dynamited for the interstate. To me, these were very unique, and were a sign of greater things to come. Overall, this stretch of Oklahoma was very green (grass, but few trees), the wildflowers were in full bloom, the air was fresh, and the horizons were easily the longest near-ground-level horizons I have ever seen in my life. I would not be able to put in to words what the area looks like, but it is uniquely beautiful. As I approached Oklahoma City, the beauty diminished, and I was unlucky enough to hit Oklahoma City just in time for afternoon rush hour.

After a near accident in Oklahoma City traffic, I jumped on I-40 Westward and finally escaped the parking lot in to rural Oklahoma. I saw quite a bit of damage from previous tornadoes along this stretch of I-40, but otherwise, there is not much else worth mentioning about this part of Oklahoma. There were plenty of drab ranches, and the air smelled of cow manure for most of the trip through here.

Texas Panhandle: Who would have thought the Texas Panhandle was so large? After a few miles of "more of the same" in the Eastern portion of the Texas Panhandle, I finally started to approach some serious (to a Floridian at least) mountainous terrain. I was coming among this portion of Texas along a long Texas sunset, and the views were absolutely amazing just east of Amarillo. Approaching Amarillo, I had "Amarillo by Morning" by George Strait (one of my favorite songs!) going through my head. I was able to listen to the song a couple of times, and along with the Texas sunset, these moments were very exhilarating. I turned in for the night in Amarillo, and when I woke up in the morning I realized that I was very close to the Great West.

My route finally took me off I-20 onto TX-335 and a couple lonely RM/FM (still don't know what this means) Texas roads. Finally I was off the interstates and on to the moments I had been waiting for: drives along State and US Highways through the West. I then found myself going north on US-287 through some unique oil country, and then finally on to US-87/US-64 heading in to New Mexico.