Wow, I'm jealous! Have a great trip! Looks like a long one, too.
Back from thread drift: We drove straight through, once, but I found it a little hard-going. If you're going to do that, keep your eyes open for signs on the highway going into rest areas. Sometimes they provide free coffee to keep overnight travellers alert.
BTW sunrise and sunset in the mountains can both be spectacular.
Thanks for the tip. Just a few hours of work and then I head home and we will get the kids out of school an hour or so early. I am a little nervous about driving straight through, but we have agreed we will be smart about it - if we can't, we can't. We are going to alternate every 3 hours or so and the other one will nap.