Road trip from Toronto, Canada to Grand Canyon, Lake Tahoe and Yellowstone

We're planning a family road trip from Toronto, Ontario to Lake Tahoe. What are some highlights not to miss? We are picking up a friend close to the Grand Canyon and then dropping the friend off a week later close to Yellowstone Park. Where are the best locations to pick up and drop off from? We are trying to cut costs by camping along the way. Any words of wisdom are appreciated.

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

The places I'd be planning on spending some time on the way west are Chicago, St. Louis, the Ozarks, Santa Fe, Petrified Forest Grand Canyon Las Vegas, Death Valley, Yosemite and Virginia City. On the way back I'd hit Bruneau Canyon, Craters of the Moon, Yellowstone, Devils Tower, Wind Caves, Mt. Rushmore, and Mackinaw City. I hope you have several weeks for this adventure!

The easiest places to pick-up/drop-off in the a National Park is at a prominent Visitors Center. At the Grand Canyon the one at the west end of the Rim Drive in Grand Canyon Village, and in Yellowstone the one at Old Faithful stand out as being easy to locate and offering things to do in case one of you has to wait. If you want to make it easy for to meet someone else who has no interest in the parks, then a restaurant in Flagstaff, AZ (I-40) for the Grand Canyon, or in Idaho Falls (I-15) or Bozeman (I-90) for Yellowstone should work.

AZBuck

We're planning a road trip from Toronto, Canada to Grand Canyon, through Lake Tahoe and then to Yellowstone. Most of the trip will be me and my 3 teenage boys. We're picking up dad near Grand Canyon and then dropping off near Yellowstone. I'm looking for some suggetions on what to see, what to avoid, closest airports to GC and Yellowstone. We're going to be camping the whole way. We're very excited but I'm a little nervous.
Thanks in advance for any ideas.
Crazymama