Searching for Cheap Lodging

I have been planning a 6 week road trip for myself and my two children (8 and 10, respectively). My route is northwest from Washington, DC to Washington state, down the Californian coast and through the southwest to Louisiana & Mississippi and back north through Alabama and North Carolina. My biggest challenge so far has been finding cheap lodging that is not a chain motel. Does anyone know of any good websites that index independently owned roadside motels? I have searched many hostels and have found that several do not have realistic accommodations for families, for example - Chicago quoted me a rate of $144/night for my children and me & another in South Dakota gave me a "break" of only $75/night. Those prices just don't work for my budget. Soooo, does anyone out there know of a way to search for cheap lodging that would be appropriate for a mom and two kids? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I'm sorry to say that I don't have a great answer for you. Certainly using the various motel search engines on the internet will give you a good idea of what is available. However, if you are looking for mom and pops motels, many of them do not participate in those searches, and the only way you can know their prices is to contact them directly.

I guess the best thing I could recommend is to search specifically in the communities where you plan to sleep and find ways to directly contact various mom and pops. Otherwise, you could just wing it and pull up to places when you arrive.