Janster

My husband and I are road tripping! We are both 30 and switching jobs and home city, and before we move on to a new part of our lives, want to take a road trip. We are going in early March for 3 weeks. Are going to head south...we have identified these points thus far:

Birmingham (see some of the civil rights history)
Austin (sentimental reasons of my husband's - spent some time there in his youth!)
up to Carlsbad Caverns and white sands national parks in New Mexico, then further north in NM to sante fe (will need to see some civilization and have dinner in a nice restaurant by then!) - then to maxwell national wildlife preserve (husband is a huge fan of birds of prey)
then head back east to hot springs national park in arkansas
then back toward Philadelphia, but not sure where to stop along the way

Taking into account the time of year, my question is: 1) what MUST we see en route? - are there any sights/palces you have seen/been that you think we can't miss??

thanks!

Janster

Sorry, update - we are not going as far west as the canyon. Decided it was too far for this time....