I live in Houston. The rush hours you'll want to be aware of are probably between 7am & 9am coming into Houston via I-10 and 3:30ish to 6pm leaving Houston. I'm not as familiar with the part of I-10 east of Houston so I don't know how bad that traffic gets in the morning. They recently widened I-10 west of downtown though and the traffic on that part of the freeway (where rush hour hits in the afternoon) is probably not horrible.

Of course, horrible is relative! I don't take I-10 at rush hours so I really can't say for sure. It's probably best to just time it right so as to avoid the rush hours if possible.

If you need recommendation on restaurants here, lmk.

I have traveled 90 west of Houston and can tell you that it's not all that scenic. It does go through a lot of small towns and WILL add a lot of travel time. I would recommend looking at travel websites to see if there are any particular towns you want to hit, then just taking I-10 and exiting at the towns you want to see. It's not as direct, but it will still be a lot quicker.

Two towns I can think of offhand that might interest you are Shiner and Gonzales. Shiner is a very small town but they make Shiner beer there. They give tours on weekdays including beer samples. There's a BBQ place in town that I've never been to and can't remember the name of but they are supposed to be really good. Trouble is, they serve till it's gone and apparently it goes fast. They recommended it to us at the brewery so if you're interested, you might call them and ask. I'm sure they'd tell you the details.

Gonzales is the where the first shot in the Texas revolution against Mexico was shot. They have the Mexican cannons there that Mexico wanted back... and the "Texians" as they were called then, said, "Come and Take It!".

Now, last time I visited there was over 15 years ago and it wasn't all that exciting to see. But I think they've jazzed things up a bit so you might look it up and see.

We used to travel through Birmingham on trips home to Indiana. Never encountered traffic issues there.

In Louisiana you might be interested in a visit to St. Francisville (about 30 miles north of I-10/Baton Rouge). Lots of plantation homes and B&Bs.

Here is a link that might be useful: St. Francisville

Thanks for the replies.

Natal, St. Francisville sounds like something I'd be interested in seeing. I'll do some further research on it. Glad to hear Birmingham may not have too much traffic. As Lowspark mentioned in her reply, "horrible is relative." Coming from the Boston area, we are accustomed to heavy traffic, and have often been pleasantly surprised by rush hour traffic in other cities.

Lowspark, thanks for the extremely helpful advice. It's good to know the I-10 widening has helped somewhat. Gonzales is one of the towns on my hope to see list. Having just finished reading "True Women," I also want to stop in Seguin. I hear they have a walking tour of some of the locations mentioned in the book. The other town that seems interesting is Marfa, which is almost to the western end of US 90. I think we'll play it by ear, and if it doesn't seem very scenic, we'll get back on the interstate.

If you're used to Boston everything else will be a piece of cake! Dh becomes a different driver when he's back in Boston. Scary! ;)

I live in the Birmingham area and I would think that unless you are coming through town right at 7-8 am or 5-6 pm, you won't hit too much terrible traffic going southbound. They are widening the interstate south of town on I-65, so afternoons can be stop and go because of that through Hoover and Pelham. If you can get through before around 4 you are usually just fine, though. Even at it's worst it's probably not as bad as Boston. :)

The alternate route would be Highway 31 South, which is usually just as crowded with red lights to congest things even further. There are always smaller roads at every exit that can help you avoid traffic, but I'm not sure they are much faster unless the interstate is dead stopped or shut down completely.

But if you are like me-- I'd rather be traveling 45 on a nice long winding back road rather than stop and go on a more direct route. Note: Avoid Highway 280 during rush hour. It's really bad.

Here are some of my suggestions of places to see along I-65 in Alabama that are not too far from the interstate. I can come up with a lot more photo ops if you don't mind getting off the beaten path a little bit.

Downtown Huntsville has the Space and Rocket center, but there is a rest area off of I-65 that has a real rocket for viewing. Can't miss it.

If you do happen to get stuck in traffic on I-65 south of Birmingham at the Valleydale Road exit there is a great local restaurant called Ragtime Cafe where I've never had a bad meal. http://www.ragtimecafe.com/ It's not much on ambiance but the food is excellent and not overpriced.

In Clanton I would recommend a stop at Peach Park (exit 205) and also Durbin Farms Market for some fresh fruits and veggies. That time of year you might go for some homemade ice cream and jams and jellies. Good place to stop and stretch your legs.

Montgomery traffic has never been bad for me. It's a small town, so not too bad.

Next stop I would recommend is Preister's Pecans in Fort Deposit. They offer tours of their operation on the weekdays and lots of samples in their store on the weekends.

Notice the majority of my stops are food related. LOL Welcome to Alabama! Where we really love to eat!

Enjoy your trip! Hope the hurricanes stay away so you can enjoy our scenery and spend your tourist dollars all along the Gulf coast. They really need every penny they can get right now. :)

Natal, when we came back from our first cross country, we could immediately tell we were back home because the drivers became more aggressive and the highway traffic increased. Before then, I just thought it was the way everyone drove.

Bcb, thanks for the wealth of information. If we are on schedule, we should be able to miss rush hour in Birmingham. You and my husband share a similar trait of preferring the route that keeps you moving - in his case even if it means going miles out of the way. Love the recommendations for food stops. My husband just got an iPhone so he is going to plug in all their gps coordinates so we'll know when we are approaching one. I'm a paper map girl, myself.

bcb77 is right on about the Alabama leg of your trip -- and I totally agree with her food recommendations! Although I would also add Bates House of Turkey at the Greenville exit. The best Turkey sandwiches, evah!!

In B'ham, if you can hit the intersection of 459 and I-65 before 4pm, you're in good shape. Fridays are a bit worse because they are Fridays, and because traffic is heavier with folks going to the lakes and to the beaches. Montgomery doesn't really have much of a rush hour, so you should be fine there.

Instead of Las Cruces , stop just east of town in La Mesilla. It is a wonderful place, I was there on my crosscountry bike trip. There is a beautiful old town square that is well worth seeing.

The whole area around St. Francisville was also part of my bike trip. Go to Oakley plantation for the walking tour. It is wonderful. I live 45 min. out of Montgomery but to the East. Have a great trip, everyone is right , there is no traffic on I 65 to speak of. c

Oakley Plantation isn't your typical quintessential southern Louisiana plantation, but from everything I've heard it's well worth it. If you do decide to visit SF try to fit in two tours ... Rosedown Plantation would provide a great contrast.

Here is a link that might be useful: pics from a trip to Rosedown and Grace Episcopal Cemetery in SF

I live near Beaumont, before you get to Houston. Not really anything that great to brag on around here. But isn't Gonzales where all the "painted churches" are? I've never seen them but heard they were gorgeous! Shiner is great, the beer is great at the brewery there! There is THE best water park EVER, Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, out near San Antonio. Wimberly, Fredricksburg, Boerne, are all neat towns. But they are probably further from I10 than you want to get. Also there is Gruene, near New Braunfels, you have to eat at the Grist Mill there and go to the Gruene Dance Hall, it's famous! And the Gruene old country store! Those are just my recommendations!

These responses are so fantastic! Thanks so much. I'm even more excited than usual to get started on our trip. I'm afraid I'll gain 10 pounds before we get to Tucson from stopping at these food recommendations, but eating at local places is part of the fun of a road trip.

iamsoconfused, I think we can travel from Pensacola through Houston in one day. But, if we get a later than expected start that day, Beaumont was one of the places we thought of stopping for the night. Are there any good motels along I-10?

Trailrunner, I was so impressed by your bike trip. I agree about Mesilla. We were there about 6 years ago when we were checking out Las Cruces as a potential retirement spot. We generally stop in LC our last night on the road, but haven't gone to Mesilla since the first time. Your post reminded me how much we enjoyed it. We'll have to have dinner there this time. I can't believe how much LC has grown since our initial trip there.

If you are interested in the painted churches, just google painted churches texas map. There's a map and other links. I think there are a lot of them in Schulenberg which is off I-10.

I didn't say this before but BE SURE to hit a Tex-Mex restaurant or two while in Texas. We're famous for BBQ but the Tex-Mex here is really good. I can highly recommend a restaurant called Chuy's which is in Houston and San Antonio, and actually expanding to other locations outside of Texas. But that's only one of tons of texmex spots here.

Are you planning to stop in Houston or just sort of pass on through?

Oh I forgot we rode into Wimberly...I was doing 40 mph down that long hill into town. There is the MOST wonderful restaurant there , right on the water, great outdoor seating. It is called INO'Z and has great brews and burgers. I love WImberly and hope to get back. We camped at the 911 Ambulance service bldg. for free in their yard. It was a treat and they were SO nice to us. Woke up and everything was FROZEN ! Our bikes, tents everything. WOW...it was Mar 28th Palm Sunday.

cyn thank you , you are sweet to say so. Seems like a lifetime ago. c

Although I don't live in Arkansas, have you considered driving through the state to see the Ozark Mountains? You'd take I-40 from Nashville and I think it goes all the way to N.M.

With the trees changing colors, it'd be perfect.

Arkansas is under-rated, IMO. Lot's of places to visit. The drive is beautiful!

oakley,thanks for the suggestion. Since we want to visit family in Pensacola this year, we opted to go the I-10 route. But we'll probably take I-40 next year. The first time we drove to Tucson, we took I-44 from St. Louis to Oklahoma and Amarillo Texas, then down to I-10. On that trip we followed parts of old Route 66, which was really a great experience. Next year, we'd like to do 40 all the way across, so we'll get to check out Arkansas.

Lowspark, we'll probably just drive through Houston. But if we want to wait out rush hour, we may stop for dinner at a Tex-Mex place. Is Chuy's near the interstate?

Well, it's about 3-4 miles from the freeway and would probably take you about 10 minutes to get there. You might be better off with a restaurant that's on the feeder road so that you wouldn't have to venture into side streets.

So, I recommend Lupe Tortilla (Spring Branch location) Their fajitas are really good but so is everything else I've eaten there. It's right on the I-10 feeder.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lupe Tortilla

cyn10 there are LOTS of hotels in Beaumont and on I-10! You pretty much have your choice! Also, if you want some good Mexican food while you're in Beaumont, go to Elena's on Calder or College...can't remember which street but it's one of those two!

The second, northern itinerary will see almost no traffic and that part fo the country should be beautiful in early October.
If you are in Iowa City or any other big college town on a Saturday...you will see traffic like you never say before.
Are you thinking badlands, Mt Rushmore, Loess hills the Santa Fe trail, Platt River valley...Santa Fe and Taos, perhaps the Grand Canyon of the Gunnison...
Sounds like a lovely fall trip to me.
Linda C

This is great! Thank you all again. Based on recommendations, I think we'll plan either to stop in Beaumont and eat at Elena's or have dinner at Lupe's in Houston and then continue on when traffic thins out. We're very fortunate to have two homes in different parts of the county, so we hope to do a lot of cross-country traveling in the next few years. There's so much to see and so many great people to meet on the way. Oh, and so many places to eat!

Linda C, we were planning on seeing the badlands and stopping in Santa Fe (we've been there and love it). But, now you've got me thinking.... I'll have to look into those other places you mentioned. Do you have any specific recommendations?

We drove from SD to Dallas in a day. We took the 10 (thru Tucson, Las Cruces) and there isn't any traffic at all. I was surprised how fast we got to Texas! We were going to drive all the way to Florida but decided to stay here in TX to hang out w/ relatives instead. We went to Dallas, Austin & Houston and Austin got my vote as the prettiest among the 3. :-) We went to some great eating places near lake Travis.

We tried Chuy in Austin & it was good (I'm not an expert on Tex Mex food so take it w/ a grain of salt!) :-D

You may want to check out the sonora cavern off the 10. We are thinking of stopping by there on the way back to San diego from New orleans.

Thanks for the tip about Sonora Caverns. I had never heard of it before, but it looks really interesting.

I'm amazed you can get from SD to Texas in one day. We were thinking of going to SD this winter while we are in Tucson.

I don't have any specific advice for any of the areas you are visiting but do want to recommend www.restaurant.com. I've used it traveling and in my own city. You can view the menus online before you go and then buy a savings certificate and print it right out. I never had a problem with using this service. You will probably be eating out a lot when traveling and the savings really add up. It is great to view the menus beforehand and get a map to the location. You can even make reservations online too. The offering include small independant ethnic restaurant to upscale supper clubs - no chains.

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I see you may be travelling through The Badlands. Check out Jewel cave in the area. It is awesome.

http://www.blackhillsbadlands.com/home/thingstodo/parksmonuments/nationalparks/jewelcavenationalmonument

Here is a link that might be useful: Restaurant

Dilly, thanks for the link about the restaurants. That will certainly be very helpful, especially in areas not already covered by recommendations. When we are tired after a full day on the road, there's nothing worse than spending a lot of time trying to find a good place to eat. We especially like to find small places with regional cooking.

Having just driven from Los Angeles to South Dakota, I suggest a GPS and a radar detector. My husband planned a great route, using Trip Advisor for motels, and then I looked at Yelp for places to eat (great Italian in Cheyenne Wyoming--who knew?)

I also suggest packing your own coffee, as most places have coffee makers in the room, and hot brown water in the breakfast buffet. South Dakota, in general, had terrible food, and I've been visiting the state for 30 years--it's worse than ever.

In Colorado, do try to see Rocky Mtn National Park--12,000 feet high, above the tree line. Amazing.

In Wyoming, Evanston is an interesting small town. Great steaks at a place downtown called Bon Rico's. Across the street is the Joss House museum, which documents the Chinese railroad workers.

Thanks for you input, ideefixe. My husband was just mentioning he wants to try using Yelp.

Evanston sounds like a definite place to check out.

I have only driven through Wyoming once, about 40 years ago, and I have always wanted to spend more time there. I was so impressed by the big sky view.

Thanks for setting our expectations about South Dakota cuisine. I guess that's okay since the state has so much else going for it.