Maybe cut across NE in Palestine to Taylor
I think something is wrong here. I lived in Palestine for a good many years. Taylor is down near Austin, not up toward Dallas.
Anyway I'll give you one possibility: How about US 98 from Mobile, US 49 from Hattisburg, I-20 from Jackson, US 80 to Marshall, TX 154 to Gilmer, US 271 to Paris, US 82 to US 287 at Henrietta (near Wichita Falls) and on to Amarillo.
I have made every mile of this route multiple times. US 82 runs across North Texas far enough to miss almost all congestion related to DFW. There are good bypasses around Marshall and Paris, TX.
IF you really wanted to avoid I-20 you could follow US 84 across Louisiana to pick up I-49 at Alexandria. On this route there is a good bypass around Shreveport.
There are many possible variations on this basic route and I've tried most of them.
