March/April Trip MN -> Grand Canyon -> Vegas -> Utah -> MN

Any east west route can be subject to gusty cross winds at any time. I actually fought a really nasty cross wind while traveling from Williams to Kingman in March about 8 years ago. It was so bad I had to slow to around 50mph and my arms felt like I was wearing lead weights when we finally cleared the open desert and stopped. I've seen similar conditions on I-70, I-80, and I-90. We were driving a relatively lightweight (8500lbs) camper van on a Chev 3500 Express chassis, and the wind was pounding it at right angles.