Ah yeah, that's going to be hard to do on a road trip west of the Rockies.

Can you afford the extra hours? Comfort-wise, time-wise, or job-wise?

If I can help it, I’m avoiding the brutal plains route, as someone who has driven across the country more times than I would like to admit for things other than fun. I’ll spend a decent few hours of my life to avoid driving through the Nebraska or Kansas plains again.

The efficient route is most likely going to be the most boring and desolate, kind of by definition. It will have straight roads and slow elevation builds for efficiency’s sake.

If I had the option to drive southwest through Missouri or southwest through Kansas, I am picking Missouri.

I also find Oklahoma to be a bit more interesting than Kansas, but the Texas panhandle can’t really be helped.

One of the most interesting road trips I’ve ever taken was through New Mexico! From Amarillo, Texas I went southwest to Roswell, then went west. I’m not sure if it was the time of year I went or what, but it was absolutely amazing. Way more interesting than the slow build of a lot of the other plains areas.

Did it add time to my trip? Yes. But it’s been over ten years and I still think about some of the interesting scenery I saw.