Q: We're going on a four-week road trip in November with our very well-behaved dog. There are some destinations we're certain to visit and we've found pet-friendly hotels and inns at most and have made reservations. For most of the month, though, we're just going to be traveling from place to place. We won't need anything fancy, merely some place that's clean and will accept Chazz, our dog. Is there a book or guide you can recommend that we can take along so we won't be stuck one night 300 miles from any place that will let us check in?

A; The American Automobile Association has a regularly updated book, Traveling With Your Pet: The AAA PetBook, $17.95, that lists about 13,000 pet-friendly AAA approved and rated accommodations in the U.S. and Canada. You can find many others in the "pets" section of your local bookstore.

The problem with books, though, is that the information therein can get dated pretty fast. Hotels close and policies change. So I have taken to carrying in my car the full-nation directories of a couple of chains I know to be generally pet-friendly. I have the official Super 8 directory (free at any Super 8 motel) and I print out the La Quinta directory from the Web whenever I'm about to hit the road. They're no-frills places, for sure, which is what you say you want.

I became something of a regular at Super 8 a decade ago, when we were making regular trips between Kentucky and Colorado with the late, great Buck the Wonder Dog. Super 8s rule that region and, happily, most are dog- friendly (but some require a pet deposit of $10 to $20, some permit only one dog per room and some prohibit all pets). So it's important to make advance contact not with the 800-number phone-answerer, but with someone at the actual facility.

Some pet owners regularly go the Motel 6 route. I agree with the general assessment, however, that it's a chain that's a lot more, let's say, varied when it comes to upkeep and management. There's a spanking new Motel 6 in Buffalo, Wyo., that, while it is barebones, sparkles and the staff could not possibly be more pet-welcoming. And then there's the one a few hours away in Casper, Wyo.

Two years ago I made desperation reservations from my cell phone while journeying home from a Thanksgiving gathering in Montana. I specifically stated I was traveling with two dogs. When I checked in at what turned out to be an ancient, down-at-the-heels motel an hour later I was told one dog was the limit. A road-weary traveler should not have to contend with such a thing when night is falling and a snowstorm is moving in.

La Quinta became my favorite chain three years ago. I was about to begin a three-day journey from the Mississippi Gulf Coast with four hurricane Katrina-survivor dogs (two pretty big ones) in my Toyota Highlander, destined for Colorado, where they all had new homes. I called several hotels and not one was interested in having us spend a night. I finally made contact with the LaQuinta in Tyler, Texas, explained my plight and they cheerfully agreed to have all the mutts and me check in the next afternoon (Thanksgiving), arranged a room that had excellent access for loading and unloading the dogs without disturbing others and even volunteered, once I checked in, to run out and get anything the dogs or I might need.

Three months later, a pal and I were driving a van with 11 more Katrina canine refugees, and two La Quintas along the route worked to locate our room on the side of the building, where the dogs that would stay in the van overnight wouldn't hear a lot of bark-provoking activity and disrupt the rest of the guests. Ever since then, I have showed my gratitude by staying at a La Quinta - even if I'm pet-free -- whenever I'm doing budget travel.