I don't know what part of the country you're traveling from or too... but if your "more northern route" takes you through Denver, I have a spare room in the basement that could host you and your family - and we could even keep things COVID safe (It has a separate entrance, etc). Let me know if you need a pit stop off I-70
Thanks for the offer. Our northern route would take us through Denver, but I picked the southern route to potentially avoid winter weather. We're traveling from New England to SoCal coast. I haven't been west in many years. When I was about 10 we moved from Seattle to New England. My mother, grandmother, my sister and I with our cat. My mother took us on a tour of the country, hitting as far south as Arizona and as far north as South Dakota, taking a lazy zig zag route across. Somewhere in Utah my grandmother was driving while my mother slept and started keeping time with the music tapping her foot on the accelerator. My mother woke up and flipped a gasket. Then in, I think, Iowa my grandmother demanded my mother pull over at a "rest area" so she could use the facilities. But it wasn't a rest area, it was a weigh station. My mother dutifully exited the highway and pulled up the the booth, smiled, then drove along after the staff waved at her in confusion. We still laugh about that. My daughter has only been west of the I-95 corridor once when we went to my grandmother's funeral in Ohio; she was about the age I was when we moved from Seattle. I am excited for her to see how vast the landscape is in the south west.
if you change your mind - the room's not going anywhere. And hey - we're almost out of the woods weather-wise. We'll get a few more storms for sure, but most won't last terribly long... and that I-70 drive between Denver and Vegas is unlike anything in the world.
My wife and I were discussing my planned route last night. She has a cousin in the Denver area that has been inviting us to visit for years. We're both torn on whether risking a snow storm is worth it. Being in such a small car we are limited on how much we can pack. I would rather not risk getting stuck in the middle of no where without proper winter weather gear. And selfishly, I would rather save suitcase space for beer on the return trip :) . Of course the conversation veered into a discussion about finally taking our honeymoon when our youngest graduates next year. Although she not a fan of sitting idle in car (and detests driving) for extended periods of time, we talked about taking a cross-country drive. We could stop to visit family in Ohio, Colorado, Arizona, Washington, and of course our daughter in California. I want to go to Glacier Nat'l Park, Yellow Stone, and Moab. She wants to stay in cabin with a view like the one in the Longmire tv show. We even talked about flying to Chicago and then getting a bedroom on the Empire Builder train to Seattle, but $3K+ is a bit rich. Renting an RV would be a bit more expensive but give us the freedom and flexibility to stop and do things along the way. I really should talk to a travel agent... But then that starts the conversation about using the money to go some place like Iceland or New Zealand. Rabbit holes everywhere!
You could maybe do 70 or 80 to Denver and then if the weather looks sketchy go south on 25 to Albuquerque or Las Cruces depending on whether 40 or 10 better meet your needs. I've driven I-80 to Denver, and it's stunning because eastern Colorado is flat, and then as you approach Denver the Rockies increasingly loom over everything. I've also driven I-70 to Denver, and driving the length of Kansas is just what you'd expect. I prefer Nebraska, though these drives were 10-12 years ago so who knows what's changed. Probably a lot more wind turbines in Iowa and Nebraska than the last time I passed through.