penguinsix

As others have said, it's a route with a lot of nothingness. If your purpose is to get from point A to point B this is probably the quickest. If I was doing it in a more leisurely "see America" manner I'd probably go a bit north or south of this route, either along the coast through New Orleans, Austin, Tuscon, maybe even a bit of Mexico or a bit North through St. Louis, Kansas, Denver, (maybe) Salt Lake, and back through Vegas to LA. Longer but I would think more options to see things here and there.

Hellopaul

If I had the time, I'd LOVE to enrol in one of their 8-day advanced astronaut courses!

Yorkieabroad

Err, did I say NM - its actually about 50 miles into AZ, but who's gonna quibble over 50 miles in a journey of 2500!

avanutria

I did their five day course as a kid, I loved it. Then I went back as a teen for Aviation Challenge, and went back in college to race a school-built 'Moonbuggy' there in their annual competition.

I wanna go again!

Oregon4now

I forgot to mention while in NM, you should really stop and visit the Acoma Pueblo also known as Sky city, It has the distinction of being one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States. close to 1000 years old and truly a fantastic visit and it is off the I-40 as well.

Manc

A twee off the beaten path.........


just a little ways either side I-40 in Arkansas is the Buffalo natl Scenic river and this hike I did last year upto whittaker Point.
http://www.ozarkmountains.org/whitaker.htm

also not such a grand canyon, but Palo Duro Canyon just south of amarillo TX is on my list too.
http://palodurocanyon.com/

AdobePinon

I'll offer you the following modification, which if performed properly should add at least three months to your trip.

Some extra goodies produced by this variation:
Santa Fe.
Side trip to Bandelier NM.
Taos - take a balloon flight down the Rio Grande gorge.
Taos Gorge Bridge.
Taos Pueblo.
Since a certain percentage of "passing through" people never leave Taos, you may have time to ski at Taos Ski Valley. You may even have time to get good at it. But assuming you leave...
A possible extra loop to take you to Great Sand Dunes NP - you could always take the Cumbres and Toltec steam train down to Chama.
Pagosa Springs - enjoy the hot springs.
Durango - 10,000 people, 4 breweries. You might not leave this town either.
Durango and Silverton steam train.
Silverton - just don't get stuck there in the middle of winter.
Side trip to Animas Forks - and up over Cinnamon Pass if you have the right vehicle and you spent a whole winter skiing and not going anywhere.
Side trips up a few 14,000 footers.
(BTW, you're on one of the most beautiful roads in the country.)
Ouray.
Telluride - better ski there too.
Mesa Verde NP.
Moab - some of the best mountain biking and four wheeling anywhere.
Arches NP.
Canyonlands NP. Take a long hike in Needles.
Do some skydiving.
West of Blanding, you're in Monkey Wrench Gang country. Just don't break down. Plenty of hiking and camping opportunities. Some of the most beautiful night skies you'll see anywhere.
(Again, you're on a particularly stunning road.)
Natural Bridges NM.
Top end of Lake Powell. Drop into Dark Canyon if you want to get away from the one or two people you see out there.
Capitol Reef NP. But you won't get much out of this one if you don't hang out a while to explore.
Escalante. Little town with a lot of cool stuff nearby.
Bryce Canyon NP.
Zion NP. You'll need to spend a couple of days here to actually see it, but it's worth it.
The infamous Colorado City.
Take a detour up to Page if you want to spend a few days lazily chugging around on Lake Powell.
Grand Canyon NP.
...and back to your regularly scheduled nothingness.

The Horticulturalist

When you're in Memphis go to the Peabody hotel and have some drinky poos and see the ducks in the fountain. http://www.peabodymemphis.com/peabody_ducks/

You need to eat some BBQ when you are there of course! It's all pork BBQ round here, so try some pulled pork or ribs.

tripadvisor.com is a good place to figure out hotels along the way.

The Horticulturalist

I'd say yes to all those changes! A fabulous detour indeed.
I read a book about a woman/girl who escaped the fundy mormons in Hildale/Colorado City *shudder*

Manc

you also need to read under the banner of heaven by Jon Krakauer then....

The Horticulturalist

Yeah, I read that one too. I stopped after that, there's only so much nutty cult stuff you can read I think.

National Geographic recently had a cover story about the same people in Colorado City and their polygamous lifestyle. They presented a very sanitized version of the reality of living in that kind of community I thought.

S Folinsky

Here is a Los Angeles Times link on travel.