we flew in the denver. seen a game, went to the brewery, and headed west to ogdan. crashed there overnight and went to an airplane memorial thing whatever tons of planes, and then a dinosaur park? (yeah i was younger). seen the temple, salt lake, clarke planetarium, yada yada...
then we went south to moab and stayed there along with going to the 4 corners, grand canyon, zion national park, bryce canyon. horse back riding in monument valley.
but yeah i think like you highlight, you need to incorporate nature in to your trip. now is the time to kayak, golf, raft, fish, hike, mountain bike.