Originally Posted by kuroneko
I second the recommendation for picking up a AAA guide for recommendations. I've done a cross country (West to East) trip and found the guides to be very accurate...and indispensible for a trip like this. Well worth the cost of membership. I did my entire trip with a planned triptik, maps from AAA and of course, their guidebooks. (This was before GPS, though
)
I think AAA maps are still the most readable maps out there(with or without
the GPS).. and guides are very useful when you are on the road without
pre-planned stays/routes.
For the hotels/motels, i'd add my vote for
Holiday Inn express, best western, la quinta, comforn inn, double tree, hampton inn, Econo lodge, motel 6, (any choice hotel group, hilton group, marriott group hotels and ICH group are good) add howard johnson to the list too.