Trip planners
We’re still new to long-distance travel in the coach, and I am curious to hear others’ experiences with trip planning. I’ve used both RV Trip Wizard and the Good Sam trip planner. My impression is...
Forum Discussion
Empty Nest, Soon wrote:
OP here.
I’m mostly looking for something that would simplify finding RV parks along the route. We are currently planning a trip to Florida for the winter. We have had our reservations in Florida for many months, but need to plan an itinerary for the 800+ mile trip.
To me, the ideal planner would combine features from the Good Sam and the RV Trip Wizard sites, and maybe a couple of others. It would accept limits of how far I want to drive in a day, show me parks only within a few miles of the route, include information on the rates the parks charge and a link to the park website, and it would include Passport America parks. I would be able to print out the itinerary, and also download it to my Garmin 760RV.
Wayne
That would be ideal. If such a thing ever exists, I'd buy it in a flash. For now, though, I actually do everything you're trying to accomplish, but it's a belabored process. I rough out a trip using Microsoft S&T, using my driving speeds and limits on distance, plus any deviations from the "fastest route" that I want. Then I use a variety of search methods to get the list of candidate parks (Microsoft S&T (which allows me to search along the route and within a set distance of any given point), http://www.rvparkreviews.com, and others). Then I make my reservations (or not, if I'm willing to risk it), finalize the route plan (sometimes including gas stops and rest breaks), print it from S&T, export it from S&T via a .gpx file, load it into MapSource, and then download that to my Garmin Zumo 665. (I use the 665 because I've got the XM antenna that gives me XM radio and XM-Nexrad weather as I drive along the route.) Whew! What a process! But maybe that illustrates what it takes (at least for me) without the all-in-one solution you seek.
We're doing a 1760-mile/34-day trip to Florida next February and I was able to get the route done, including reservations, in a couple days of work. For me, that's not too bad for a trip of that complexity; in the opinion of my DW, that's loony. Either way, something like what you have in mind would be a blessing.
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