Good Sam used to have a great trip routing site that I could print out with mileage and then add on to the leg of the trip that gave the mileage from the starting point as I went along. It seems that is gone. New and improved I guess. The new one doesn't allow for adding another leg to the trip or give mileage totals. Does anyone have a good trip routing site they use.
QUOTE(nedmtnman @ Aug 17 2010, 11:18 AM) [snapback]23577[/snapback] Does anyone have a good trip routing site they use. Not sure if this gives you the functionality you're looking for, but Google Maps allows you to put in multiple destinations along the way and gives you mileage at each point So, I could get directions to go from home to my final destination (say, Myrtle Beach) by way of a midpoint stopover, and some point of interest along the way (South of the Border, anyone?) A. Home B. Midpoint Stopover C. Point of Interest D. Final Destination You also have the ability to 'drag' your route. I was headed into PA a few weeks back and saw that they had me going over the Frenchtown Bridge in NJ. I don't do that bridge in my truck without the trailer, I had no intention of going over WITH the trailer (too narrow). I dragged my route to cross into PA on a highway instead. Worked great. The only thing I have not yet figured out is how I identify route restrictions (like no LP gas bottles through the Ft. McHenry Tunnel in Baltimore) on a site like this. Hope this helps, give it a shot. Unfortunately, I had never used the Good Sam tool, so I can't compare them.
I have not found a good web site for trip routing on the web. I use Microsoft Streets and Trips for this. It allows me to plan our 3-4 week trips without much hassle. You can plan the actual trip portions and then add side trips to nearby destinations. You can set a distance that you want to travel each day and then use the 'end of day' function to find campgrounds in the area of where you are stopping. I then use RV Park Reviews to figure out which I should stay at. Once you are done planning the route you can download the whole thing to your GPS. There are a few annoyances like insisting on listing the trip duration as Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, etc. Instead of letting me choose the start date on a calendar. All in all, a good solution.
Ditto with the Streets and Trips routing. Only certain of the GPS units (most of the Garmins, I think) can be downloaded with the trip info but it is really nice if you can. Keeps you from the "GPS surprise" turn down that too narrow road.
We also use Streets and Trips and find it very easy to use. But as stated before it is a program you purchase. It is not available on the web like Good Sam. Also I kind of like the Day 1, Day 2 feature (metnioned earlier) because when we plan a trip we many times do not have an exact departure date in mind. This way I can plan each day and not be tied to a date. Just another side of the coin. Now my complaint is that S&T is more geared for auto travel so to get the shortest route it does take you over some back roads that I would not want to attempt in the motorhome. But I have the choice of moving part of the route to a different road. All in all we think it is a good program.
I have found the same problems with the route found by S&T but they are the same issues that I find with my Tom Tom, Google Maps or whatever I use. I have found the best option is to check over the whole route looking for just that type of issue. We just went through a short section that I did not check and the Tom Tom took us down some dirt roads instead of going just a little bit further and only having to travel 100 feet on a dirt road. Let the driver beware!
When towing my camper, I find that our GPS unit is essentially useless and I usually shut it off. We don't have any options for "trucks" or "trailers", so I guess that is the problem. I always go back to my large street map book of the United States. By using that, Yahoo Maps, and asking questions about the route on the camping forums I figure out my route. Actually, I have found that asking about routes on camping forums helps the most.
Order a copy of (American Map Large Scale) off the web. One of the best maps we have every found and it is printed in Canada. If you look at state of CA you have 16 pages of maps that cover everything. The large scale is great to read as our eyes go south over time. We use two GPS systems but the map is number one if you do not wish to drive down some farm road and end up in a corn field. Not a lot of fun!
I bought the Rand Nc Nally Tripmaker CD. You can connect to the internet, to get the latest up dates on road conditions. It will route you around bridges, tunnels and mountains if you would like. You can set it up to show you points of interest, campgrounds and more along your route. You can set it up for different mileages off route for the attractions. It also lets you print out overview map, route segments, itinerary and a cost page.
QUOTE(dog bone @ Aug 23 2010, 11:08 AM) [snapback]23670[/snapback] I bought the Rand Nc Nally Tripmaker CD. You can connect to the internet, to get the latest up dates on road conditions. It will route you around bridges, tunnels and mountains if you would like. You can set it up to show you points of interest, campgrounds and more along your route. You can set it up for different mileages off route for the attractions. It also lets you print out overview map, route segments, itinerary and a cost page. Dog Bone, I used the Rand McNally Tripmaker software for a long time and liked it very much but almost 6 years ago (I think) they stopped updating it. The last version crashed so often I was driven to MicroSquash Streets & Trips. I went to the Rand McNally site but could find no mention of a new version. If you know something I don't (very likely!!!) give me a hint on where to look.
QUOTE(Meyer Camping @ Aug 24 2010, 12:44 PM) [snapback]23693[/snapback] Dog Bone, I used the Rand McNally Tripmaker software for a long time and liked it very much but almost 6 years ago (I think) they stopped updating it. The last version crashed so often I was driven to MicroSquash Streets & Trips. I went to the Rand McNally site but could find no mention of a new version. If you know something I don't (very likely!!!) give me a hint on where to look. My cd is from 2001, the deluxe addition. I don't know if that matters. It lets me connect to the internet to upgrade my road sense feature. That feature will route me around closed roads, tunnels, and so forth. Although, the last time I did that was 2009. I might have to try it and see if will still let me. I bought my copy in Staples. I don't know if they still sell them. I just tried to upgrade the Tripmaker. It said not able to access the internet at this time. I went to there web site, to the FAQ section and updates are no longer available. Guess my 09 update will have to do for awhile.
I use three routing sites. 1) Google maps, as they are the easiest for re-routing by simply dragging over to another road or waypoint and because of the possibility to get street views for most places with just a simple click 2) http://www.routes.tomtom.com because it has the best estimate of actual driving time, as data is collected from real-world drivers that use the map-share feature of TomTom's gps. You get a different driving time for example if you leave right now or Wednesdays at 8:00 am or 11:00 am. They also have traffic information that is color coded and updated every minute. As an example, while I'm writing this it gives for Albany, NY: a)From: NY-146 To: NY-146/Carman Rd slow traffic for 1.2 km, with a delay of 1.5 min. B)I 87Northbound From: NY-155/Exit 5 To: NY-7/Exit 7 slow traffic for 3.1 km, with a delay of 3 min. and four other incidents in the Albany region. You do not need to be a TomTom gps owner to use this site, but you should understand some Britspeak, for instance when is says "exit slip closed" in means exit closed, "stationary traffic for 4 km with a delay of 18 min." it means that cars do come to a stop between stretches of slow movement, and also this site uses kilometres instead of miles. To get all the traffic info you need to zoom in. 3) http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/ because it gives the best tourist info. Even though it is from Europe (You can get it in about 12 different languages, I put the link to the British site here), you get good routing and tourist info for the USA. Again there is Britspeak, "motorways" are interstates for example. In my test case I used Albany, NY to Harrisburg, PA and it gave me three possible routings. In order to get the tourist info you click on the small map and then on the green button "Tourism" and actuate "Green Guide". You will see lots of little green dots that change into a shield when you zoom in. If you click on it you get the name of the place, "West Point" for instance. Then you get several options for routing to this place and a "More Info" option. This gives you the website of the institution plus the following brief description: Remarks Overlooking the Hudson River, West Point is renowned as the site of the US Military Academy, the oldest of the nation‘s service academies. You can visit the campus by guided tour, departing from the visitor center. The excellent museum thoroughly examines the history of the military, the academy, warfare and weapons. On the tour you‘ll see the Cadet Chapel, Fort Putnam and the famed Parade Ground. You can also display hotels, restaurants and an impressive list of "Extras". All three sites work perfectly for European travel as well, and viamichelin will even give you indications of dangerous stretches of roads. For the fun of it try "39020 Sluderno, Italy" to "23032 Bormio, Italy", a road over the Stelvio pass with 112 switchbacks on one side and 104 on the other if my memory is correct. Only 33 miles, but it will take you one hour if you dare to drive like the locals..... Click on the small map to get a bigger version and then zoom in to see the switchbacks. You can also get a satellite view. All three sites allow you to print out the driving directions and I find the viamichelin directions very good and easy on the eyes. They even remind you to take a break every two hours. I think the two unusual options by TomTom and Michelin are good additions to our arsenal of routing programs, and they are free!
