Route Planning- TX/LA/MS/AL

Two questions related to an upcoming trip from Houston to the high banks of Talladega, Alabama:

1. Can anyone suggest good routes, or portions of routes? I could do the entire 700mi on the interstate, but that would be no fun on the FZ6 (particularly with fall color in mid-October). There appear to be a multitude of options, from hugging the gulf coast to Mobile & turning north, to going north early & then east across the rolling hills of the other states, and everything in between.

2. What tools do you typically use to plan a trip like this, in areas that you don't know, to find good highways & backroads?

Thanks for any help.

Hi, John! I'm in Houston, too, and have ridden in the direction you'll be going many times. If you're truly looking to get off the interstate, take US 82 across. Go up 59 to Texarkana, where you'll pick it up on the east side 235 loop. Anything not interstate is going to be slower, of course, but this route is pretty, going across southern AR and the northern tiers of MS and AL to Tuscaloosa.

When planning my trips, I use Microsoft Streets & Trips and then confirm sections of the route using Google Maps (satellite view). Satellite view lets me zoom in on questionable sections of the route (like where it goes through urban areas) and sometimes a bypass route will jump out at me if it's a congested area. I use a GPS when underway, so I import the final route either manually or using a GPX utility.

Have fun on the trip! Should be really pretty in October. I'll be passing right through there myself headed north from the east coast of FL on up to Iowa.