I like paper maps, but I also use mapquest or google maps before the trip for planning purposes and recommendations, but I carry a Rand McNalley road map book with me. I have a GPS also just in case, but so far, I haven’t used it.
When I was young, I travelled across country with my grandparents and I remember those AAA maps. They also showed which police departments used Radar and highlighted know speed traps too, not that my grandfather ever exceeded the speed limit. Eight days from Vt to Ca in 1959.
My parents used to use AAA tripticks for family vacations when I was a child. I think AAA offers something similar but more streamlined now. I wonder if it has anything to offer that makes it better than printing your directions on MapQuest.
We drove to NC last weekend for our nephew’s wedding. I-77 from the intersection with I-81 to the VA/NC line was stopped because of an accident. If we had followed the GPS, we would have been at the end of that 20 mile backup. But using the map app on the cell phone allowed us to find an alternate route that while slow, was not nearly as slow as not moving at all. GPS is a great way to find places in an area you are unfamiliar with and is good for long distance travel, too. But it is good to have maps. I think they compliment each other.
I bet those were eight wonderful days @keith. They would have been for me and I would have sent us through the most scenic areas possible. I was the family navigator, though others had input, as well. I was just nuttier about maps than anyone else.
I like the AAA paper maps, you can get a very detailed one for a state and they indicate the secnic routes. At many state borders there ar welcome centers with free maps and brochures. Agps is ok if you just want to get someplace but a map is better for freestyle touring.
I went to “Wally World” a couple of weeks ago to buy a new road atlas. The paper “fold up” maps were located right beside them. What amazed me was that the fold up map was almost exactly the same price as the atlas. It might have been $1 lower but it was no deal for me.
My Garmin has the same features as yours@Barkydag, but the traffic feature leaves a lot to be desired. It is possible to look ahead with the GPS by shrinking the map size, and you can even see alternate routes. But I still like having a separate map.
Our Volvo came with navigation and we prefer the portable units because you can search while moving ( Mary searches, I drive ). But we were on the Blue Ridge Parkway when a really heavy fog came in. The in car unit showed turns far enough ahead that the sharp turns and switchbacks were not as big a surprise as they could have been.
I know what you mean Bing, My daughter was an honor roll student, Deans list in college, but at the age of 12 she could not tell the time of day w/ a analog clock
“Kids that don’t know how to read maps seem to prefer GPS.”
Sadly…that would be most of them.
Do you recall the incident that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, about one of my students who thought that Texas is next to NJ? Yes, he confused PA & TX.
That might seem like an extreme example, but geographical ignorance is not unusual in people younger than…let’s say…30 years of age.
Awhile back I was ferrying my step dad to the airport one day and missed my exit(despite having the GPS working). Now, I could have pulled over and looked at a map to see which exit I needed to take off i-270 after I missed my turn-off, but that would mean I’d have to make my way into the break down lane, pull the map out, figure out which exit I needed to take, figure out which roads I needed to take to get to the airport, merge with traffic at 75+mph, find my new exit, etc.
Or, just let the GPS redirect me where I need to go. While not the most accurate thing, it does make it easier to find the general vicinity where you need to go
generally if I can see the sun I can go in the right direction until I find my way again. its kinda fun in rural driving, as we see new places. my daughter panics when we get off track but I just tell her that we live on a peninsula, we can t really get too lost. we like outdoor stuff so I often like to explore rural areas for unknown fishing or crabbing spots. GPS can t compare to a map for exploring
I don’t dispute the value of GPS. My wife uses it all the time. On a trip I have my map too plus the navigation system in the car and the portable GPS that the wife likes. Its good for finding places to eat and motels, and I like to check the radar. I guess you can do all that on a smart phone now if you can read the fine print.
I have been really truly lost a number of times pre-GPS and compass, in the dark, in a snow storm, in South Dakota, Iowa and rural Minnesota. One time in the pitch dark in South Dakota I went by the same gas station three times driving in about a 15 mile circle and finally stopped to ask how to get out of there. If you have a compass or the sun and can keep going in the right direction, eventually you come to something familiar or that you can find on the map.
@wesw my family has had more than a few adventures that started out by exploring but on at least one occasion we’ve been thankful to have the GPS available to find our way back when the road takes a completely different direction from the one we wanted to go. Pulled off the freeway one day to find a particular fast-food place and when we couldn’t find it my dad decided that a particular road must go the same direction as the freeway and it did, until heading off into farm country to the east. Then Mom made him get the portable GPS out and find our way back which we eventually did.
Back in the summer of 1989 we were touring the east coast and on my brother’s birthday he decided we should go to Chucky Cheese and there was a location near Harrisburg PA where we were staying the night. The clerk at our motel knew where it was (the union deposit mall) but not how to get there. We headed to the town of Union Deposit and after going back and forth on the same road (in front of an old guy on his porch) many times we turned back and found someone who knew where it was (back in Harrisburg) Drove a total of 80 miles to find the place closed down (it was only the food anyway,no games) ended up having Pizza Hut and we noticed that if you looked out the window and under the interstate,you could see our motel. Add to that the two times we found our motel by sheer blind luck and it was a memorable trip but a couple times a GPS system would have helped. The maps we had didn’t always show everything.
