I did it both ways, and honestly, night time was way worse. Because it is so desolate, the ride becomes that much more boring. It is one thing to drive through cities at night, but once you are outside of the cities it becomes 10 times as bad at least it was for me. I remember sitting in a Perkins at 4 am in Nebraska having some breakfast and wondering if I would ever see the sun again. One of the longest nights of my life.