I've done the I-80 haul more times than I can count. Every time I just felt horrible for the poor souls in that part of Wyoming.
But then, as a first-year associate, I had to take a very last minute business trip to Cheyenne. Since there were no direct flights, I flew into Denver and drove up. Turns out its only like 90 minutes from Denver. An hour from Fort Collins.
That actually makes them much more palatable in my view. I could do rural as long as civilization was reasonably close.
The winters though. Yikes.