Great choice of where to take your TM. My husband and I grew up in Santa Cruz and moved to Salt Lake City area 15 years ago. We have worn out HWY 80 since then! I think you can do your plan. It is the kind of day that you only stop when you need gas and you do all you need to do in those stops. We have taken our TM to Watsonville and I think it took us about 15 hours. We've also taken our TM to North Dakota through Yellowstone and I think that was about another 4+ hours. What ever you do, I wouldn't plan to stay in Battle Mountain, NV. It really is an arm pit. We've stayed overnight there in our TM and would avoid it in the future. Have a great time!
