[VAL] CA to CO route advice?

[Rob Super <robsuper@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Listers:

Preamble:
We're planning to make the Colorado vintage rally next month. (Yes!) 
We're driving from the CA foothills (east of Sacramento). It will be 
our first long trip in our much-reworked-but-still-incomplete '73 
Safari, and the first time we will tackle a whole bunch'a  steep 
grades. (And in Aug heat at that.) We're pulling with an F-150 ('99, 
5.4, 3.73) and have successfully tackled CA's Carson Pass (8,573'), 
both directions. The eastern slope of Carson has about 3 mi of 8% 
grade, and going up that was a hard, slow pull. No engine heating 
problems (in May) but no info on the trans heat. Have since added a 
trans temp gauge but no significant track record with it yet.

Proposed route (looks like ~1200mi, planning about 5 days):
CA-88 (Carson Pass again) to NV line
US 50 across NV to I-5 in UT, I-5 and US-50 to I-70 at Salina, UT
I-70 to Grand Junction, CO and
US-50 again to Pueblo (etc)

Questions:
Any input from those familiar with that route, or parts of it? Too 
ambitious? Better ideas? Recommended stopping places? (We will 
certainly stay away from Red Mountain, Polly--thanks for that 
info!--and Loveland/Eisenhower on I-70 in CO looks like something 
better left until we have more experience with the rig.) Objective is 
to bypass trouble but gain some useful experience on the way (even 
though that may mean a fair amount of boring ol' Interstate), then 
maybe be a bit more leisurely and experimental, grade-wise, on the way 
home.

Thanks--and we're looking fwd to mtg some of you in Colorado!

Rob and Sadie