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Well, a little time has passed, and I've been driving my car since the repairs. We replaced the axles, and while my mechanic was doing this, he found a "failed keeper holding the c/v on the axle letting the axle bang the end of the output flange." At least that was the really loud noise heard just before we flatbedded. He's still not sure what caused the noise we first heard on the trip. We know that the stupid mudflap was flapping around, and taping it immediately quieted that noise. In addition, the axle was bent, however that happened, probably before I bought the car. But eventually the clip failed entirely. The interesting thing was that the sound couldn't be duplicated while test driving at the shop after the flatbed arrived. Apparently the lubrication had to be thoroughly warmed up--30 or 40 miles or so--before the noises started. Weird.
So, all of you who voted for cv joint issues, you were right. It was just a bit more complicated than that. I've put a few hundred miles on the car on a variety of roads and at various speeds. I haven't heard any strange noises aft of the cockpit, and the bad vibration at higher speeds is gone, too. Smooth as a baby's bottom, in fact. Thanks for all your help and your long-distance guesses!
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