Thanks all for the thoughtful replies. Didn't take looking at those fire and smoke maps very long before we became convinced on the southern route, which shouldn't be too terribly hot by September. Our plan is to chug down 70W to Colorado Springs and then through Utah. With an eye toward breaking this up into even chunks of driving, here's a draft itinerary. Our hope is that someone will have ideas for places to stay, especially at or near each of the semi-arbitrary early milestones. (Salina Kansas???) We are just blasting through until we get to Colorado, but if there's a small detour off of I70 that you think is worth it we're game. Moving truck arrival uncertainty forces us to plan for as little as 9 or 10 days, but with a little luck we could set a somewhat more leisurely 2-week pace. So yes, we know we SHOULD take more time but unfortunately we can't.
MD to Columbus, OH to visit daughter at OSU.
St. Louis, MO.
Salina, KS.
Colorado Springs, CO.
Arches National Park, UT.
Bryce Canyon National Park, UT.
Sedona, AZ.
??
San Diego.
Make any sense? Yes, we get that finding RV spots could be a challenge but we'd like to start with an itinerary we like and see if we can find something.
Thanks again!
Dave