Made the trip on a motorcycle in 2001 all the way up the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline.
Great scenery, too early for a lot of color, plenty of wildlife, no bears.

Two months ago I took advantage of sales at Best Buy And Costco to purchase the Nikon D7200 kit. In addition to the
18-55 and the 55-300 zoom lenses that were in the kit. I added a Nikkor 18-300 as a walk around lens. This works for
me.

Once the batteries are charged and the memory is installed, it can be used out of the box in AUTO mode until you learn
the ins and outs of the menu system and the other camera functions. Amazon has a couple of good books to help.

I am sure that Canon has a similar set up. See what is comfortable in your hand, Canon or Nikon.

Also, find a good carry system that you are comfortable with. The carry straps that come suck.

At my age I don't like carrying more weight than i have to. I recently purchased a D7200, added an 18-300 lens, and
a comfortable ( at least for me ) carry system. One camera that covers 98% of my needs.

Also, you might want to check out the Palo Duro Canyon State Park up near Amarillo depending on your route thru Texas.

It's really the not the best time for Texas, ( March-April when the bluebonnets are in bloom ), but there is still some awesome
scenery in the hill country.

In the 60 plus years of my non-professional time of taking photos I have learned that the important thing is the final product, not the equipment.
Good pics are good pics.

Most of my photography consists of pics taken of a couple of MC groups I ride with and a military reunion group.
I find that the software allows me to name a folder (date), file and upload easily. It makes things easy to find
if anyone wants copies. It should be a consideration.

I am not a professional, but I have been using various cameras since my first Brownies in the late '50's.
Something I haven't seen talked about is the software used to upload to a pc. I am only familiar with
the Nikon software. Some one that has used both may have input to the most user friendly.