RustBelt RoadTour '15!!
My advice is a little simpler, Dad. It's planning lunch. Where to stop for an hour or more. Establishing the long day rhythm of travel for family with small children. And having to set up camp at the end. Day by day.
Work the daily fuel stop around that lunch spot. And rest areas or similar every 100-miles from departure. If lunch is at about the four hour point of travel time -- not total time -- and lunch as made by yourselves or from a selection at
www.roadfood.com and you use a travel speed of 57-mph it is fairly easy to zero in on where you will be as the day progresses.
. (Time the stops and log to see how Mom and kiddies are doing; is 15 or 30 minutes better for breaks; or 60 or 120 for fuel and lunch? Learn what works for low stress).
Then use travel references to attractions and they will jump out at you based on above. Trust to spirit. Prepare the ground.
I'd be stopping at at Lehman's Hardware, to be specific. And I might sneak it by the wife with a scenic and culinary tour which just happens to go past there. A reward for no cranky wife and kids after days on the road. That's the real Dad job.