Denver to New Orleans road trip advice
 

Zelien's recent post about her road trip led me to post this one. This is not a vacation however. My mother, who is a pretty capable driver but doesn't WANT to drive much anymore, (oh, that all older parents should be this easy!)is giving me her car. I live in New Orleans and will be flying to Denver to get her and the car. Then we will make the road trip to New Orleans, from which she will fly home.
Our tentative route plan is I-70 east from Denver to Salina, Kansas, then a hard right to I-135/35 south to Okla. City. From there, I-40 east to Little Rock, then a little southern detour on Highway 65 to Tallulah, LA then briefly east on I-20 to Jackson, Miss., and finally south on I-55 to I-10.
This route is intended to be as direct as possible while letting us avoid the great expanses of desolate Texas flatlands. Any comments? Thoughts? Places we shouldn't miss enroute? We have a little time to enjoy, but not much. Also, we're not planning to make advance hotel reservations, figuring we can stop wherever we are enroute without much problem. Or we can call ahead on a cell phone to reserve, if need be.
Thanks in advance for your input!

I'm not going to be alot of help, but here goes. I live near Oklahoma City and your route through Kansas is exactly the route we take to go skiing.
If you find it necessary to stop overnight in OKC, try to stay north of the city in the Edmond area or directly downtown. Other areas just off the highway aren't so nice.
A friend at work grew up in Louisiana. When she goes home to see family, she goes east on I-40 to the Indian Nation Turnpike and south on that (the turnoff is around Henryetta, OK) through the southeastern tip of Oklahoma into Louisiana. I'm not sure about which roads she uses from there, but I'll try to ask her Monday morning. Have fun.
H
ps if you're in the mood to walk around or need to eat, OKC has a new area downtown with restaurants and a canal called Bricktown.

Your route via I-55 is adding a lot of miles.

You should follow phieaglefan's suggestion of taking the Indian Nation Turnpike in OK, down to Paris, TX. From there you can take US271 to I-30 (last few miles on TX136) - about 130 miles of non-interestate travel. Or go east on US82 to Texarkana and hten US71 south to Shreveport. Then I-49 all the way down to Lafayette.

In fact, I don't know how much difference it makes to not go through TX for the most part. KS and OK are just as flat and even more desolate.

If I were you and just want to do the most direct route, I'd take US287 all the way from Limon, CO down to Fort Worth, and then I-20/49/10. Shortest route and fastest.

Thanks, I really appreciate everyone's input. I thought the route from Okla. City to Little Rock on I-40 might take us through some scenic Arkansas areas preferable to the I-35 south-to-Dallas route. Further input is welcome.

I-40 more or less follows the Arkansas River from Fort Smith to Little Rock, but I really wouldn't call it "scenic". It is not worth the extra miles and times.

The Ozark mountains is to the north of this route, and the Ouachita mountains to the south.

I also live near OKC and drive to Colo once or twice a year. We drove to NOLA last January for the Sugar Bowl and drive to the Florida panhandle often. I agree that I-40 east is not very scenic - East Texas is probably just as scenic, at least more trees. The I-70 to I-35 route is certainly the fastest from Denver to OKC and I actually enjoy the flatlands of Western Kansas where you can see forever and I enjoy the post rock area too.

From OKC to NOLA I would say the route rkkwan mentioned is the fastest and you can avoid Dallas. (Note, I think we came out on I-20, not I-30 as mentioned. We were almost at the TX/LA border when we re-joined the interstate but the other highways and the 130 miles sounds right.) We only found this route last spring on our trip to Florida. I would recommend you drive that little clip from Paris, TX to I-20 during daylight hours. It's two-lane, black-top, highway, and I wouldn't find it very pleasant in the dark. Or you can go thru Dallas if driving thru a huge city with tons of traffic has any appeal!

Thanks, paige. I did mean US271 south from Paris, TX down to I-20. That was a typo on my part. They will cross I-30, but should stay on 271 till TX136 to get on I-20.

Once you are on I-49 out of Shreveport, don't go all the way to Lafayette. When you get to Opelousas, go west on US 190. Watch your speed through Port Barre and Krotz springs, and stay on Hwy 190 to Port Allen, where you will see signs to I-10 and Baton Rouge. Then take I-10 into NO. I-10 from Lafayette to BR can be a real mess, especially if there is an accident. Mostly bridges, so no way off. I go this way to Alex all the time...saves about 20 miles, and about 15 minutes if nothing is wrong on I-10; saves hours if there is!

Anne

I think Anne means go <b>east</b> on US190 from Opelousas to Port Allen. Good point as it saves some miles.

I have also been stuck on the bridges on I-10 for over an hour due to an accident. Had to wait for a chopper to airlift the victim out of there. But having said that, that stretch of I-10 is one of the more unique ones in the whole Interstate system. I think if someone has never driven that route, it's worth the extra miles to do it, at least for just once.

Yep...I meant east...sorry! I'm used to giving people directions from NO, not to! Towards Baton Rouge!!

You know, when you live in a town where you go east across the river to get to the west bank, you learn to say left and right instead of east or west!!

thanks for the catch!

Anne