Sacramento, Ca to Charlottesville, VA

Camping means investing in gear: https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/family-camping-checklist.html which can get expensive depending on the level of comfort you want. REI recently had a sale on essentials and you can get some low grade gear from Target or that great satan, Walmart. The problem with camping is that you can't predict the weather (August = thunderstorms over much of the country; Virginia gets the back end of tropical storms which can mean heavy showers in late Aug-Sept) and suitable campsites may or may not be close to your route. The most straightforward route avoids national forest land which is probably the easiest place to camp (no reservations, low cost sites), except toward the end of your trip and even then you may have to drive some miles to find a camp site. Commercial camp grounds are basically for people who have RVs and usually hangout for a few days at a time. You really need to decide whether you want the trouble and expense of gear vs. hotels.

You really need to invest in an atlas, so you can get a big picture of your trip and also see where the rest stops and towns big enough to have a decent motel are located. Google maps will underestimate travel times and not be terribly helpful about stops. I can drive 600 miles in a day given rest, clear weather and clear roads, but wouldn't do it every day, something like 400-500/day is probably more reasonable. You will encounter road construction throughout your route, regardless of your route which will slow down your progress and you may encounter the occasional cloud burst or shower and tornado warnings are possible though much of your route, although tornados are rare.

The basic route: I-80, I-74 & I-64 will have tolls in places most memorably in West Virginia, but they will not amount to much.

Your hotel costs will be less if you stay in small towns rather than large metro areas and you should have many options for that, although prices may climb Labor Day weekend (1st Mon in September) and in late Aug-Sept in towns that have universities, depending on their calendar. Schools on semesters (the most common) usually start around Labor Day or 1-2 weeks before. Those on quarters start later. August is prime time for weddings so some small and even medium sized cities can get booked out for weddings, so if you're going to have reservations, I'd make them for the weekends. There are numerous cheap hotel chains: Knights Inn, Motel 6, the cheaper Choice and Wyndham banners. The Choice and cheaper Wyndham properties used to be something else and are quite variable, but usually have workable wifi and breakfast included. Knights and Motel 6 will have thin towels and bare bones, sometimes depressing accommodations, which will work for a night. Hampton and Fairfield by Marriott are a step up from these and Hampton, in particular, maintains a relatively consistent standard for their properties. You should check websites for individual properties because policies regarding pets will vary widely.

Make sure you have a saver card for whatever Kroger calls itself in California (https://www.thekrogerco.com/ bottom of the page) and you may get some deals on gas a long the way, and the card makes it cheaper to self-cater. Kroger is never exceptional but you basically know what you're getting. An app like Gas Buddy also helps.

The dog does make things more difficult. For one thing, you will have problems leaving him alone. Most pet-friendly motels require that dogs not be left alone in a room. Leaving the dog in your car while you shop or grab a meal can be a big issue, especially if the weather is warm. I’m sure you know all the stuff about how fast a car can heat up, even though it’s not super hot outside. All you need is a bystander calling the cops, or, worse, deciding to take action with the tire iron in their trunk.

You may have to hope that Rover won’t bark if you leave him in the motel room to make a quick supermarket run. Or to do all your shopping at the crack of dawn at the 24-hour supermarket, when it’s cool enough to leave Rover in the car. Or, shudder, to get most of your meals at a fast food drive-in.

In campgrounds, dogs generally must be leashed, and you’ll want to do that anyway, to keep Rover from running off to chase a squirrel or something. I frankly don’t think this is the time to try your hand at camping for the first time.

Make you motel bookings in advance. Some pet-friendly places only have a few available rooms, which can book up. Expect to pay a pet fee or extra deposit.

Stop at every possible rest stop. A large dog that can’t stand up much in a moving car is going to get stressed. (I’ve done a long distance drive with a German Shepherd. He was not happy.) You may want to figure out a way to tether Rover in the car, if you can’t crate him, so he doesn’t leap out and run the second you open the door. Or get scared and try to climb in your lap while you are driving.

Be sure Rover is chipped and that you have your vet records easily available, including proof of rabies shots. Rover may be the sweetest-tempered dog on the planet, but a stressed dog, or one that feels obliged to guard your car, can behave unusually and nip someone. Talk to your vet about doggie tranquilizers or doggie motion sickness prevention, if necessary. Look up emergency vet clinics on your route.

I have driven by myself round trip from the Bay Area to Washington DC, roughly the same trip. I took 5 days each way I found that it was 8-10 hours a day on the road, when you build in rest & gas stops. It was exhausting. And I didn’t have a dog with me. I suggest you plot out the fastest route and plan to grit it out.

Don’t forget that ice chest for your food and stuff. You may want to bring some sort of thing to boil water. More expensive places may have a microwave, but you really don’t want to be cooking that ramen in a motel coffee pot.

I'd like to keep things as cheap as possible so camping from time to time will probably happen even though I've never camped in my life.

I agree this probably isn't the place to start. The fastest, most direct route using major highways will often not be convenient to inexpensive public campgrounds, which will end up requiring some research and likely detours for you. There are likely to be private campgrounds for travelers along the main highways, but these cater mainly to RVs and will be more expensive - while entailing all the same camping-related equipment needs and logistical hassles . The need for camping gear will certainly cancel out some of the potential savings. On the whole, it'll be faster and easier, and only minimally more expensive, to plan on using cheap motels the whole way.

Focusing on your two key points: 1) as quickly as possible with my dog & 2) August or September.

As quickly as possible means I-80 > I-29 > I-70 > I-64 across in 4 to 6 days, depending on your driving stamina (see google maps). While you could map out a southern route, August or September means northern route probably more comfortable temperature-wise. As an owner with an equally large dog, I too would advise against camping this particular trip. For one thing, it sounds as though you do not actually know if your dog likes camping. Ours does not and we would never combine camping with a long drive the next day (she hates the tent and will not settle if there is a coyote, racoon, or possum within a mile radius!). Camping with dog = limited sleep.
I suggest just mapping out the Red Roof Inns along your route, planning to stop every 8 to 10 hours. If there is no RRI, we use American Best Value Inns. Safe travels.

The motel chains have credit cards which offer free starts for accumulated points. Choice Hotels (Econo/odge, Comfort, Sleep, Rodeway,. Choice) does this as well as Days Inn, Super 8 and others.

You can find cheaper places at the motels built before the Interstate highways ere constructed. These are on the old highways entering the towns.

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