I will forewarn you, watch LA/MS roads. They are not in the best of shape by a long shot. A little trick I may have learnt from Ian, BS owner in Shreveport, stay on the less traveled highway and they will be in better shape. I just went from Monticello, FL to New Orleans-Broken Bow, OK in the past couple of weeks. I hit the AL/MS border and I knew I hit the border. The road US??98 or is it 90 between Mobile and Pascagoula, totally turned to crap right as I crossed the border into MS. I ended up breaking a spoke on a new wheel, before I ever made it into Pascagoula. Cyclebum likes to talk about TX using monster sized chip and seal...well, MS does as well. That stuff was absolutely horrible to ride on. I would have to say, in the 20+ states I've ridden in over the past month, MS and AL had the worst roads by a long shot. I quite easily came up with a new name for the capital of Lousyana...Bad Roads. Just as incredible as the change from AL to MS was the change from LA to TX. You definitely can tell how poor that part of the country is just by looking at how bad they upkeep the roads. I had to jokingly ask just how much money has been embezelled from the DOT fund in LA.
I would still have to say the funnest and most memorable part of the trip thus far has been the ride across the Pensacola Bay Bridge. I taped the ride across and I can't wait to go back and see just how many darn cars went by me while I was making the 11-12 minute crossing. The traffic was incredible but I never felt safer.
One of the prettier state house first peaks is coming in from the east into Tallahassee on US27...just wish the new statehouse building wasn't so darn big and sitting right behind the old state house building.
If you plan on going through Mobile make sure you know how to get around. It can be a bit tricky with the tunnels.
Be prepared, even though it sounds like you live in TX to start with, which should help, but still August is the hottest/most humid month around the Gulf Coast. Be prepared...I kinda was but still got caught WAY off guard. I'm still trying to recover from the beating from the heat and the direct sun beating down on me each day. I still remember the overnighter I pulled from Shreveport to Broken Bow. The overnight went great, had no trouble staying awake even though I was quite sleep deprived. Once the sun came up, around Ashdown, AR, I could feel the energy quickly start draining right out of my body. It's amazing how the heat/humidity/direct sunlight can just drain your energy without trying.