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Old 08-12-2016, 10:39 PM   #21
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2009 28' International
Pacific Palisades , California
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VaTravelers View Post
So I am a geek, I'm ok with that. I like electronics, the web, the cloud and all the APs out there that help us enjoy and control (okay a little control freak in there) our RV experience. My wonderful wife of 34 years likes maps and books. I need advice on the best paper versions of all the great RV references out there. Thanks
We're just like you!

My wife loves her Rand Atlas that we buy new every year. We also buy Next Exit new each year to be up to date--great to pick your fuel stops or picnic areas hours in advance if you want to, and know which are RV friendly and EZ on, EZ off.The auto nav system is useless because it's so inaccurate and out of date and the viewing area is way too small.

iPhone maps are great. Love being able to zoom out as far as you want, and then in as tight as you want. Checking the 3D satellite view to explore a location way in advance to see if it's trailer friendly. Seeing exactly where you are on the map. Seeing traffic problems way ahead. Being able to get accurate projections to next stop, and to intermediate stops.

We inherited an iPad, and I may activate a wireless hot spot on our phone (requires a plan change away from unlimited data) to share data to get an even larger picture than the iPhone permits. We have a Wilson sleek phone cradle signal booster which amplifies any signal so it's useful even in semi-remote areas, so the phones will always have better reception unless we upgrade to another booster.

We have found it useful to plan our trip the evening before at least to decide on how far we're going that day. Then we can be impromptu about where we're stopping to make breakfast, for example, as we take off with coffee mugs in hand. Our favorite combo of overview but leaving the details to just happen more spontaneously.
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Old 08-12-2016, 10:58 PM   #22
Len and Jeanne
 
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2005 16' International CCD
2015 19' Flying Cloud
Creston Valley , British Columbia
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We like maps, too!

We find official state highway maps usually to be superior to commercial state maps, and have a collection of them, but we also travel with the Rand McNalley road atlas or its moral equivalent.

One type of road atlas we really like is a state or provincial recreational or backroads atlas that shows all of the backroads at a decent scale, including their conditions. (Dashed brown lines, usually OK. Dashed red lines are for 4-wheelers or serious jeeps.) Sometimes it's also helpful to see whether an area of interest is public or private land, for camping purposes.

We also travel with the Good Sam guide to RV parks, formerly Woodall's guide.

We have never owned a GPS, outside of the seldom-used one on my smart phone. We do pre-trip Mapquest routes for long trips.

We might get around to a GPS eventually, mostly to prevent occasional bursts of temper between the driver and navigator, in situations where the map is at too small of a scale to be helpful. As in:

Driver: "Where's my next turn?"

Navigator: "I don't know. I've never been here before."

Driver: "Can't you read the map?"

Navigator: "The map doesn't show individual city side streets."

Navigator: "Oops. That was our next turn."

Driver: "I asked you to tell me when was our next turn."

Navigator: "Do your own navigation. Or just buy us a GPS."
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Old 08-13-2016, 07:47 AM   #23
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I''m the navigator and the driver.
My wife is the nag-avator. ;-) (she says this, not me)
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Old 08-13-2016, 08:14 AM   #24
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2018 27' Flying Cloud
Austin , Texas
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Originally Posted by OTRA15 View Post
The DeLorme Atlas maps are great. Very detailed and accurate for good local navigation.
I second this. I have two complete regional sets, and some individual state maps. I did this because when driving having my daughter or wife look at the paper map when needed comes in very handy.
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Old 08-13-2016, 08:39 AM   #25
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Several years ago, the San Diego Union did a feature story on the Google street mapping operation that becomes the basis for the GPS program. Interestingly enough, if you were to punch in my home address, your GPS would take you two miles further than necessary to pass by a Conoco service station! I volunteer at the visitor's center for the San Juan National Forest office and never fail to be amazed at the number of Delorme books we sell as well as maps. I too have all the Delorme books for the western states and don't even know how to turn on the GPS feature in my RV!
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Old 08-13-2016, 10:08 AM   #26
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Fort Worth , Texas
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Originally Posted by m.hony View Post
We pick up the "Official State Road Maps" from the welcome centers every year so they are as updated as they can be.
We do use GPS navigation from time to time, but it seems to get me lost and frustrated more than it helps, so I have a Rand McNally Road Atlas on board and a compass.
I also print out turn by turn directions before I go and memorize as much of the trip as possible.
I refresh my memory at every rest stop, fuel stop, meal stop.

Think of the GPS as being the real time information manager. It's how I use it for work. My goal is generally to stay on the biggest road for the longest period, even to the extent of driving farther (as time means more than sheer miles). Planning is still in using the large format commercial road atlas (use overview page to see if non-Interstate roads show up) and use straight edge there, and on state page to consider routes on either side.

Then it's a matter of plugging in a fuel stop along the way and a destination. A few waypoints to keep the GPS honest (Garmin 760). It does have a tendency to "save" me time/miles on inferior routes without the waypoints.

For ETA and distance remaining, it's damned handy. All so much that I'd replace it that day were it to fail.

I can change routes pretty easily as well, having already looked the main maps over previously. As well, the traffic alerts are good. Suggested alternatives nearly always work given I've an empty trailer (too top heavy in some instances). I holler on the CB and there's usually a local with route knowledge to confirm or warn of problems on the alternative.

I run up on wrecks weekly. Same for giant construction headaches. The USDOT has a link page to the various states for construction woes, but there is usually little warning of wrecks (such as a few days ago on IH71 where a semi lost it in the rain ahead of us. And onlookers the other direction caused your normally crappy pickup-and-cardboard-box-trailer to fishtail and flip shutting them down as well).

WAZE is just barely okay, but TRUCKERS PATH is good, especially if an RVer likes the easy ingress/egress associated with truck stops (I prefer Flying J when in the pickup).

The sheer amount of traffic on Interstates beggars belief. Who the hell are all these people 100-miles from a metro area in the middle of the day? Or at 2300. It makes no sense.

The GPS is thus handy when I've simply had it for the day. I enter a new destination at that point and let it carry me there. Same for very bad weather. Or, knowing the road is closed ahead (CB). I can tell it to pull up all truck stops and choose. Or use my truck parking guide as well.

I enter every destination. Business and personal. When back home I use it to run errands. I certainly know where to go. But, by using Mapquest best order routing, I can enter that routing for most effective fuel burn. Best warm up, and with no left turns, make a less stressful day in a one ton around Dallas-Fort Worth trying to get all errands done.

I use the IPhone Map also to check routing alternatives, but it is oriented for cars. The Truck GPS can be set for all sorts of limitations to which the combined rig is subject. When in crossing the Appalachians, north or south, I am glad for its consistency in keeping me off those "scenic" routes.

And, as my pickup/travel trailer at 63' is considerably longer than my work rig, much of that also applies.

It would never occur to me to travel without atlases. Or state issued maps. But the GPS has made the interim between departure and arrival much easier. Plenty of times I've kept an eye on it when delivering a load (2-3 hours) and have had to change that days destination. With the TT, the same applies for weather, traffic, etc, against the 3-350/mile day rule.

Damned handy once you have one.
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Old 08-13-2016, 10:17 AM   #27
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Even though we have all of the "Golly Gee" stuff, I still prefer the paper maps. One of my most favorite is a AAA map called "Indian Country" for the Southwest. Great map if you are doing the Grand Circle in Utah, Arizona.
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Old 08-14-2016, 06:25 AM   #28
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Originally Posted by Woosch View Post
Even though we have all of the "Golly Gee" stuff, I still prefer the paper maps. One of my most favorite is a AAA map called "Indian Country" for the Southwest. Great map if you are doing the Grand Circle in Utah, Arizona.

Or a Tony Hillerman fan. I have two versions. An original from the 60's and one dedicated to Tony Hillerman and his novels.
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Old 08-14-2016, 10:07 AM   #29
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I've been learning a "best of both worlds" option. That being, using my paper maps with a gps. There is an app, called "PDF Maps" for I-Phone-Pad or Android that allows you to use any map in a PDF format with the gps in the gadget. I usually make my own maps, but you can scan any paper map and put it in your phone. Then the gps will show your location on the map. There are two challenges. First, you've got to have a large format scanner to scan your map. Some libraries have those, or Kinko's (or whatever they're called now), or maybe you could get an engineering firm to do it for you. Second, you've got to georeference the map, which is essentially assigning location coordinates to the map so it knows where it is in the world. This can be done in Google Earth, though it's a little cumbersome.

Alternatively, you can buy thousands of maps already scanned and georeferenced (there are free ones available too). You just put them on your gadget by e-mailing them to yourself.

I find this to be a great option, as much of the standard data and maps on the consumer grade gps's is really dumbed down. With paper, we can get exactly what we want, at the scale we want.

I always keep the paper too, because the battery on my phone will always die at the worst time.
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