Route planners

I was using M/S Streets & Trips until yesterday when it wouldn't load. I've read that a call to M/S can get the problem fixed but I decided it was time to abandon an old friend.

I'm trying the Good Sam (Rand McNally) trip planner. It is online only but is pretty good. I would like to see several things added but It appears to work the way I want it to.

If you are a Good Sam member I recommend you give it a try.

Over the last 10+ years I have used just about every mapping program out there. I settled on Delorme's Street Atlas for the initial planning then copied to Garmin's Mapsource or BaseCamp to finalize and download to the Garmin GPS. I know many of you really like Streets and Trips which I found very lacking and always out of date and wondered why it lasted as long as it did. Then there is the free Garmin BaseCamp and like most I found almost impossible to use. However it is the most current non-online mapping product (if kept up to date with lifetime map updates) that is available. After about 6 months of working and experimenting with BaseCamp I can now do just about anything the other programs did and somewhat faster. One thing that I wasted time on was BaseCamps Trip Planner and never have gotten it figured out. I just use librarys of waypoints and build routes using them. If you don't use a Garmin GPS and a PC/MAC then BaseCamp is not an option for you.

We always did the route on Delorme's Street Atlas - didn't need internet service for it - and then transferred it to the Garmin for the driver's use. The passenger still looked at the Delorme because it gave many more details than a Garmin does.

Is the route you plan on Streets and Trips downloadable to a Garmin GPS. I wonder because S&T is outdated now and I have a brand new GPS.

Matt_Colie wrote:
I should start this by allowing that much of my life I have had Navigator next to my name. That has instilled habits that I have no interest in losing.

When we travel (we are travelers, not campers), we usually have two GPS running, a standalone for the driver with the day's route programmed in before getting underway, and a laptop running Street Atlas. If you count the smartphone, maybe three. As we travel, the navigator can work the traveling internet (when we have it), and if something interesting shows up, maybe we will divert to it. Needless to say, on more than single occasion, the day's plan has gone out the window with a single road sign. That is how we found the The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. We didn't know about it and it was not in our plan.

We have had very limited success with anything on-line. Even with the 4G repeater and Verizon for a carrier, we still end up without a usable connection during some driving days. When I once tried an on-line planner, the only thing we could do was plan the day and hope that when a change was desired or forced on us, we could get a connection or work it through with the standalone.

What I still want is a planner that you can put in a start and end and it will tell you about points of interest along the way and do this with a value of by miles of diversion. For example, if you are within 50 miles of of the Gilmore Collection (cars-Hickory Corners MI), The Museum of the Rockies (dinosaurs and more-Bozeman MT), the Naval Air Museum (naval flight-Pensacola FL) or the Union Pacific Museum (railroad/no rolling stock-Council Bluffs IA), or even 100 miles of The Airforce Museum (aircraft-Dayton OH) or the Henry Ford/Greenfield complex (Dearborn MI), the package should set a flag so you don't drive right on by.

Matt

Have you looked at MS Streets and Trips? Copies can be had on Ebay for next to nothing. Chris

I should start this by allowing that much of my life I have had Navigator next to my name. That has instilled habits that I have no interest in losing.

When we travel (we are travelers, not campers), we usually have two GPS running, a standalone for the driver with the day's route programmed in before getting underway, and a laptop running Street Atlas. If you count the smartphone, maybe three. As we travel, the navigator can work the traveling internet (when we have it), and if something interesting shows up, maybe we will divert to it. Needless to say, on more than single occasion, the day's plan has gone out the window with a single road sign. That is how we found the The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. We didn't know about it and it was not in our plan.

We have had very limited success with anything on-line. Even with the 4G repeater and Verizon for a carrier, we still end up without a usable connection during some driving days. When I once tried an on-line planner, the only thing we could do was plan the day and hope that when a change was desired or forced on us, we could get a connection or work it through with the standalone.

What I still want is a planner that you can put in a start and end and it will tell you about points of interest along the way and do this with a value of by miles of diversion. For example, if you are within 50 miles of of the Gilmore Collection (cars-Hickory Corners MI), The Museum of the Rockies (dinosaurs and more-Bozeman MT), the Naval Air Museum (naval flight-Pensacola FL) or the Union Pacific Museum (railroad/no rolling stock-Council Bluffs IA), or even 100 miles of The Airforce Museum (aircraft-Dayton OH) or the Henry Ford/Greenfield complex (Dearborn MI), the package should set a flag so you don't drive right on by.

Matt

We've been using RV Trip Wizard for the last two years - it's an overlay on Google Maps so it's as up to date as Google Maps.

It has a huge campground database and my favorite feature is the daily mileage band on the map - user configurable.

The yearly subscription is cheap for this valuable tool.

I have no connection to this program other than a highly satisfied customer.

TucsonJim wrote:
I too use the GS route planner.

x3 I really like it - I have used it for the trip I am on now, a 7,000 mile trip

Buster52 wrote:
I see there are several route planing software on the market. M/S Streets and trips (That is no longer produced) Delorme Street Atlas and Rand McNally route planner. I have used Delorme and M/S programs for my car and both have there good and bad points. I have never used the Rand McNally program. I am looking for input from people who have used these programs and can help me choice witch on is the best for some one who is driving a truck pulling a 5th wheel. Thanks

ya mean you're 'sposed to have a plan? :) we tend to pick a direction and wander but when we do make a plan we use DeLorme Street Atlas.

Wow! My wife just wants me to buy a new atlas before our summer trip. She thinks having one that tells where to water your horses is getting out of date.