I did such a trip a few years ago after attending the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas (and of course traveling there on the Big D). I had wanted to visit Ely, Nevada, as it is one of the most remote places in the continental 48 states, so I drove north from Vegas 280 miles to Ely, then headed east on US 6/50, stopping at the Border Inn, where the motel and gas station are in Utah but the slot casino and restaurant/bar are in Nevada. The next services are posted as 83 miles east (I think in Delta, Utah). I ended up around 11 pm at Green River, Utah, where I got a motel.

The next morning I continued on I-70 and US 191 to the famous Moab, where I spent some quality time at Arches National Park, then continued south through Monticello, then to the Moki Dugway, then Mexican Hat Rock, then through Monument Valley into Arizona, then to Page, crossing the Colorado River at the remarkable arch bridge near Glen Canyon Dam. I overnighted in Kanab, Utah, a cute little town where they used to shoot western-themed movies.

The next morning I decided to skip Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks, and more or less head straight back to Las Vegas. As I was a fan of the HBO series "Big Love", I got off the highway between Kanab and St. George at the twin towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona, which was the real-life site of the compound of the polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs. After driving a few blocks someone started tailing me, and it was extremely creepy. Sensing that I might be in danger, I worked my way back to the highway and got out of town pronto. I stopped in St. George, a city of about 100,000 people, before making the final 2 hour trip back to Vegas. The most notable thing about that drive was that the fight was going on between a rancher in the Mesquite, Nevada area named Cliven Bundy and the federal government over cattle grazing on federal land. There was a 10 mile backup on the northbound side of the I-15 of people attending a protest in support of Bundy.

Further affiant sayeth not.