An FYI in case weather forces you up the CA Central Valley — there have been a lot of upgrades to 99 over the last few years. It’s a viable alternate route for Bakersfield to Sacramento if the idea of 600 miles on I-5 is too much to take.
I’ve used AirBNB for several years now, single and multiple night stays though not where you’re going to be. Still, I wanted to mention my stays have always been great, at least 4/5 stars every time. I find it really helpful to communicate well w/ the potential hosts; for the most part, these are their homes and there’s a high level of give-a-damn.
We wound up so comfortable in one AirBNB my guy played his guitar while the host played piano and her three dogs trotted around the room getting petted by the other roommates and me. It was wonderful.
Well if you had to go the southern route to Phoenix, it isn’t that bad going to the Grand Canyon. Instead of continuing eest on I-10, head north on I-17 to Flagstaff (and if you go that route, try going through Sedona!). From Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon is only a 100 mile detour for you — a quick jog up US-180 to the south rim. Or if you have just a little more time, take US-89 up to Cameron AZ, then AZ-64 along the south rim.
That’s not bad for a journey of 3,000 miles, and well worth it.
Pretty sure you didn’t mean to “dis” me; we agree on the crater.
When I read your post I thought you didn’t like it either.
Meteor Crater is a cool stop. Dobbs describes it well.
Actually I had described Meteor Crater as “cool” and changed it to “ginchy” while thinking about another recent thread (with the thought in mind of contributing to the deal that after you see a word for the first time you then start to see it all over the place). Kookie thinks there’s a generation gap here. 
To make it perfectly clear, I think Meteor Crater is not a totally “must see” but if you’re in the area it is a memorable sight that won’t blow a big hole in your schedule.
If you don’t have time for the Meteor Crater, you can make a quick stop in Winslow and get a picture of yourself standing on the corner. 10 minutes tops.
(oops, I see it’s already been suggested)