Way home from California

Hi everyone. I am planning a trip across country with my family. My oldest is going off to College so it's going to be the last trip and I want it to be enjoyable. Do you think a 17 day cross-country trip from Cape Cod Massachussestes to California will be enjoyable or even possible? We do plan on doing a lot of non-stop driving because we have 3 drivers we might as well take advantage of it. On the way over we plan to stop in Indiannapolis for a day to visit family. After visting family we would like to spend a day or two in Dever Colorado. After Denver we want to head over to California and spend a couple days there. Now the tricky question is do we go a northern route home or a southern route home. Do you think driving through the south in the end of July will be more interesting then driving through the north? Please help me!!!!