I have driven across country twice, once in a 69E that I found in the SF Bay area and drove back to Boston in 54 hours and once in a rental from Atlanta to SF, with 4 women, 2 days after 9/11.
Both were phenomenal trips.
Having done both routes, I would go with the southern one. Better food, more to see, more stops in general.
I would go with the 911. It's more real. More experiential. Have done plenty of 30 hour trips with more modern machinery. They are just for covering distance, not experiencing the distance you've covered.
69E pics taken at random holding the camera out the window.
