A few corrections and additions

1) It is Panhandle of Florida, not Pane Handle.
Texas also has a Panhandle - look at the shape of Texas and Florida, you see the "handle" area - that is what the Americans call it "Panhandle".

2) The beaches at Panhandle are fantastic - they have the whitest white sand beaches, but the water is greenish, more like Emerald than Turquoise (versus the sea you see at South Florida, Ft.Lauderdale, Miami, Keys - to give a reference).

3) Pansocola - a Air Force Base town. You can see a museum dedicated to Blue Angeles (The air aerobatic performance team - we just had a Fleet Week and Sea and Air down here in Ft.Lauderdale 2 weeks ago. Blue Angeles and Snow Birds from Canada plus a host of others did spectacular performances as usual.)

4) The coastal areas along Alabama and Florida are very nice drives provided you dont pass thru it during hurricane season. Rivers in that area tend to crest with heavy rain and often requir major diversion. That is not fun.

5) Those trees you see along I-10 on the Swamp Land are Cypress.

6) I-10 between Panhandle and Texas, is extremely boring - at least it is that way to us.

7) DONT GO TO NEW ORLEANS - the city has not, by no means, recovered. The Madi Gras is held in French Quarter, not French Court - there is no such name called French Court. It was a controversial event. On one hand, people need a relief badly, especially emotionally. On the other hand, people, especially those still have no home to go, resent it very much as it diverted scarced resources.

There were student groups from our area went to New Orleans on their Spring Break, to help people tear down the ruined homes (yes, after 9 months, there are still rubbles everywhere) and clear out gabbages etc. The reports back from these very admirable students are a reality check. No one should go to New Orleans unless you are going to help to rebuild.

8) I-8 between San Diego and Phoenix is a great drive - very unique scenaries and very little traffic. It is also on high mountain, 5000ft to 7000ft for a long stretch until you get to Arizona. Need to watch for weather report. Also if you are not U.S. Citizen or PR, strongly suggest you bring your immigration paper with you. There are border patrol cars as it is very close to Mexico border most of the way. I think before you get to Yuma, AZ, there are several places you are only 10-15 miles away from Mexico. We did the drive one-way May of 2005. When you are near Phoenix or Tucson, there are some small dessert areas that are quite interesting. I forgot exactly where but they are marked on the MAP.

That is all I can think of now just off the top of my head.