suggestions??

I am driving out to Vegas and back for Interbike this Fall and plan to document my journey on this here venue as best I can. I've driven this route a handful of times before but I've never really had time to explore any of the fantastic locales along the way. This is a sad fact and I intend to do something about it this time around.

This trip was originally designed to afford me time to mountainbike in Fruita/Moab with a good friend who currently resides in TN. Unfortunately, he was called away on business this coming weekend (when we would have been riding together) so this part of the journey is off the menu. On the return trip, I had made plans to visit with Primetime in SLC for climbing and a bit of hooliganism and this portion of the trip remains unscathed.

My query is this: where should I stop along the way? What places do I need to see? This is my route, more or less.


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Should I see Arches National Park? Should I explore Zion? Something else entirely? I'll have almost a whole extra day on the way out for some serious sight-seeing.

And how about the way back... I'm thinking of checking out more of Eastern Wyoming and breaking off of I-80 toward Casper, WY, and I-90 which would take me close enough to Mt. Rushmore for a visit. Is this the way to go?