EVENTS

June 30 through July 7: Expo 66: Headlights on the Mother Road Car Show; 1-505-265-1791; www.headlightsonthemotherroad.com. Cruise starts in Gallup, N.M., and goes by way of Acoma Pueblo to Albuquerque and then on to Edgewood, Deadwood, Morarity, Santa Rosa and Tucumcari. Concerts, fireworks, special events along the way. Discounted hotel accommodations for cruisers.

HISTORIC ACCOMMODATIONS

Albuquerque, N.M.

Casa de Suenos Old Country Inn, 310 Rio Grande Blvd. SW, Albuquerque, NM 87104; 1-800-665-7002 or 1-505-247-4560; www.casasdesuenos.com. Built in the 1930s and 1940s, the inn has 21 casitas with fireplaces, adobe walls and gardens. Doubles from $129 (breakfast included).

Route 66 International Hostel, 1012 Central Ave. SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102; 1-505-247-1813; www.rt66hostel.com. A mansion built in 1905 is now budget travelers' lodging. The facade is largely unchanged. Meals are sometimes available. Help with chores is welcome. Bunks, $18.00; private room, $24.00 per person.

Gallup, N.M.

El Rancho Hotel, 1000 E. Highway 66, Gallup, NM 87301; 1-505-863-9311 ; www.elranchohotel.com. Behind Southern mansion-style columns is a fanciful hotel, built in 1937 for R.E. "Griff" Griffith, who implied he was related to D.W. Griffith. This antique- and memorabilia-filled hotel is furnished in "Old West rustic" style. Photos of many Hollywood stars who stayed there while filming Westerns in the area decorate walls. Doubles, $68-$76; suites, $80-$105.

Holbrook, Ariz.

Wigwam Village Motel, 811 W. Hopi Drive, Holbrook, AZ 86025; 1-928-524-3048. At one time, seven teepee-inspired motels dotted the country. The first was built in 1937. Most are now gone, but three remain -- one in Kentucky and two along Route 66. Holbrook's is No. 6. Its neon sign reads, "Sleep in a Wigwam." The cars parked beside the dozen stucco teepees are vintage vehicles. The lodgepole furnishings are as old as the motel. $42-$48 per teepee.

Flagstaff, Ariz.

Hotel Monte Vista, 100 N. San Francisco St., Flagstaff, AZ 86001; 1-800-545-3068 or 1-928-779-6971; www.hotelmontevista.com. One block from Route 66, this National Register of Historic Places classic couples 50 updated rooms with a lobby that looks much as it did in 1927. Doubles, $65-$115.

Winslow, Ariz.

La Posada Hotel, 303 E. Second St., Winslow, AZ 86047; 1-928-289-4366; www.laposada.org. Called America's last great railroad hotel and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the hacienda-style hotel was designed by Mary Colter, a pioneering woman architect, for an imaginary late 18th-century timber and cattle baron. The inn reportedly cost $2 million in 1930 and at 68,000 square feet is larger than Hearst Castle. Each luxurious room is different. Some have six-foot-long porcelain tubs, some have Jacuzzi tubs and some have balconies. Doubles, $89-$129; suites, $149.

Williams, Ariz.

Grand Canyon Hotel, 145 W. Route 66, Williams, AZ 86046-2528; 1-928-635-1419; www.thegrandcanyonhotel.com. After being closed for 35 years, Arizona's oldest hotel (1889) recently reopened with 25 charming rooms done in the appropriate Victorian style. A dorm room accommodates budget travelers. Cine Classics 66 movie theater in the hotel shows old comedies and dramas nightly at 7:30. Doubles, $60 with shared bath, $70 with private bath; dorm, $20 per person.

Needles, Calif.

Fender's River Road Resort, 3396 Needles Highway, Needles, CA 92363; 1-760-326-3423; www.fendersriverroadresort.com. A small motel, built in the 1950s and renovated in 2000, lies along both Route 66 and the Colorado River. A 24-space RV facility was added, but the darling nine-room motel is the star. Rooms have air conditioning and kitchen facilities. Doubles, $65-$85.

Rialto, Calif.

Wigwam Motel, 2728 W. Foothill Blvd., Rialto, CA 92376; 1-909-875-3005; www.wigwammotel.com. Wigwam No. 7 was the last built and the most recently renovated and restored. Individual teepee-style units were supposed to replicate an Indian encampment. Today, they are heated and air-conditioned and have satellite TV. Such touches as wagon-wheel headboards and quilt-like spreads maintain a retro style. Doubles, $55-$80.