Moderator: Information Desk, Women Travelers, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Chicago, IL, USA
Programs: AA Gold
Posts: 15,651
I've done (most of) both routes.
One June I drove the Iowa-Nebraska-Colorado-Utah-Nevada-California route. I think we stopped for the night in Grand Island, NE; Grand Junction, CO; and Las Vegas. Gorgeous drive with beautiful scenery. Though I'm not sure when you need to start worrying about winter weather through the Rockies.
The following January, the friend I'd taken the westbound trip with drove did the California-Arizona-New Mexico-Texas leg and I met him in Oklahoma City. We then drove together for the Oklahoma-Missouri-Illinois leg in two days, with an overnight in Tulsa (thank you, ice storm). There's not much of interest in that portion of the drive--clearly, I missed the more scenic portion of the route. From a weather perspective, that route is probably a bit better, though there's still the possibility of storms, including tornados.