We do a loop at Christmas to visit relatives in Los Angeles. Then we go down to San Diego and back home in Los Alamos, NM.
We have done different routes including the route given above.
From I10 after Casa Grande (sorry, I don't remember where exactly), you can get to Globe and US60 and then take that to NM26 to NM117 to I40.
Usually we stay on I10 to Deming to NM26 to I25. This avoids Phoenix, plus my parents used to live in Deming.
You can get snow in the higher elevations in October, but it would be very rare for the snow to stick to the roads.
David
