Is our summer trip out West too ambitious?

I took the family on a circular tour a few years ago from Kentucky down through the southwest, up the Pacific Coast then to Canada. Back down through the Dakotas, Kansas, Nebraska then back to Kentucky. I had no plans to stay anyplace very long either and I wish I had been smarter. I spent WAY too much time driving and not seeing the sites myself. DW keeps reminding me we should have picked ONE place and spent our time there as a BASE then used toad to visit the places in the surrounding area that interested us. From that point on, we pick one location as a base that has surroundings enough to interest us all for a good period of time. Think it through carefully and don't spend your whole trip driving and not seeing anything. Good/Safe trip. :)