Do check out Austin NV if you do this trip. It's a cool little town. There's a small restaurant on the left side of US 50(if your looking west) that has great food. I can't remember the name of it. I used to go there every time I passed through. From the junction of US50 and Hwy 376 there's a good climb up and up and up to get to Austin. From 376S and US50 the elevation there is 6028ft according to Google Earth. The peak is 7487ft. Austin sits at 6630ft. I spent about 12 years living in Northern NV, I'm familiar with almost all of the state except the southern portion of the state south of US 95. US50 through NV would be a good route, but the car's you do see will be doing 70+ typically. I'm not even sure how many times I've driven the whole NV part, but big rig's were never a problem. I remember one time I drove it, I saw 7 cars and one RV across the whole state.