I can vouch for the lack of rest area's. From Benson to Q-Town on I-10 there was only 1 open rest area. I heard that all the rest stops on I-40 were closed but I can't verify.

Well, as someone who lives in Phoenix and owns acreage in N.E. Arizona about 30 miles south of I-40 on AZ 191, I certainly have a route recommendation :)

My advise is to take the most direct route the Phoenix metro area and taking I-40 to I-17 IS NOT the way to go IMO.

I would take state route 191 south from I-40 at a little town called Sanders.  Take 191 south to St. Johns, then head west on state route 61 to the little town of Concho.

At Concho there is a choice to be made. 

You can go straight and follow 61 on to Show Low where you'll meet up with US 60 and you can either take 60 all the way to Globe, and further west onto your destination in Gold Canyon, or take state route 260 to Payson then south on State Route 87 (The Beeline Highway) which will take you to east Mesa then a short jog east to Gold Canyon.

My recomendation is neither of those.

At Concho I would turn right at the intersection of 61 and 180a, take 180a about a mile to Apache County road 5020.  Don't let the designation scare you, that county road is a two-lane paved highway that goes straight to the Snowflake/Taylor area and is barely traveled.  Once you get to Snowflake you stay on that road which changes it's designation to state highway 277 which will bring you into Heber and intersect with state highway 260. From there you head west on 260 to Payson, then south on state highway 87 all the way to the Loop 202 in East Mesa where you'll go east to US 60 to Gold Canyon.

My way avoids the traffic of going through Show Low (the largest town in the White Mountains) Lakeside, and Pinetop which will be packed with ski-area traffic.

The only thing that would stop you is a snowstorm.  If there has been recent snow (within 2 days) then you may very well want to go the long way around taking I-40 to I-17.  They keep the roads very passable in winter, so if a storm came through, as long as you're not in the middle of it, you should be fine.

None of these roads I pointed out are what I consider a Motorhome no-no, most are two lanes with frequent pullout's and passing zones with the exception of state highway 191 and county road 5020, but there's hardly any traffic on either, so it's not a big deal.

This trip takes me 3.5 to 4 hours by car, and about 5 hours when towing my camper.  Add another 45 minutes since you're going to Gold Canyon, I live in North Phoenix, so I'm a bit closer.

Have fun and enjoy the scenery on the way down!  :)

That's the route we are taking, 25 out of Albuquerque, then 10 to Tucson to Phoenix.  We'll be traveling the week after Christmas - haven't gone that route before but it was recommended to us by other travelers that do the route twice a year.  You also avoid any mountains that way.