Planning trip through NM and AZ any cool points of interest?

You picked a nice time of year to visit the desert.

In addition to what the other posters noted, I recommend the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson; Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix; Sandia Peak Tramway in Albuquerque; and perhaps the Very Large Array west of Socorro (depending on your route).

No lack of things to visit where you're headed! :C