Haven't driven the whole route, but between Chicago and New Mexico/Colorado, there isn't a whole lot of scenic. Iowa is flat. Kansas is flat. Missouri north and west of St. Louis is flat. There is pretty much no way that the first half of your journey is remotely scenic, unless you want to add a couple of thousand miles to your route. I'd hop on I-80 and drive to Denver as fast as you can. Maybe from there you can find something nice. Maybe start out really early, and you can be on the other side of Iowa before the sun comes up.
Once you get to Denver, I-70 to I-15 will not disappoint you. And that's the fastest way, too. If you want a short detour, I'd do a drive through Zion National Park. I just did that route during a drive from Boulder to San Diego. On the way there, I collected ideas for the return trip. On the way back, I hit three of the National Parks in Utah. But even just from the main roads (70 and 15) there is a lot to see.
