Driving from Louisiana to Washington state...help!! (route, recommendation, snow)

[newjourney]

We will be driving a 97 Nissan pickup from Lake Charles, LA to Mt. Vernon, WA on October 12th. Looking for some recommendations to get across the Rockies. We would like to see some scenery and avoid I-10 as much as possible. We were considering heading up to I-40 across NM into AZ to see the Grand Canyon but don't know what the Interstate is like that way. Then we would head North on Hwy 89 into UT. Anyone been that route? Any suggestions?
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[adventuregurl]

Originally Posted by newjourney

We will be driving a 97 Nissan pickup from Lake Charles, LA to Mt. Vernon, WA on October 12th. Looking for some recommendations to get across the Rockies. We would like to see some scenery and avoid I-10 as much as possible. We were considering heading up to I-40 across NM into AZ to see the Grand Canyon but don't know what the Interstate is like that way. Then we would head North on Hwy 89 into UT. Anyone been that route? Any suggestions?
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I've been on the I-40 from Flagstaff east to....can't remember, I was actually coming down from the NE.

I have also been up 89A through Utah all the way to British Columbia 3 times. Utah is fabuloous and SO worth it, some of the parts of the drive after that can be a bit boring but not too bad the first time through. It's very unlikely that early in the year but you could hit some snow at the high altitudes in AZ.