All these questions on routing???

[We_Cant_Wait]

Just curious about all the requests for best routes etc, some even between towns in the same state. Having drove all over Europe while in the military there, and all over the U.S. while driving truck the only references I ever had was, a European Road Atlas, and U.S. Motor Carrier Atlas. Are we as a whole getting to the point that we must have others do more and more things for us by others instead of researching things our self? With all the electronic routing possibilities available to us i.e. Mapsgoole, GPS's, I-Phones, etc it'd seem that planning a route is as easy as a couple of clicks on the key pad.

[msmith1199]

I have read everything and I think my point was clear. Several of you have come on to a "Roads and Routes" RV forum in order to poke fun at people who ask questions about "Roads and Routes" to travel in their RV. I don't understand your motives, but I guess you have to do what you have to do.

[4X4Dodger]

mileshuff wrote:

4X4Dodger wrote:
Well I understand what you are trying to get at but consider this: Asking this kind of advice from strangers is basically futile. You dont know their experience in driving or their personal prejudices, likes and dislikes.

I look for a consensus among those that have driven a particular route or are local to the area. I find I get FAR more reliable info from those here on the forums than I find in some RV/Travel website or book.

Do you know the author(s) of those travel websites or books any more than those here on the forums? What makes one preferable to another? For me its the ability to converse directly and again, gain a consensus.

You bring up a good point about travel web sites and guidebooks.

As for the guidebooks I do believe that in most cases the better guidebooks tell you up front in their preface what their outlook on travel/adventure etc is. Not only that but a quick read will usually tell the reader what kind of POV the book has.

For example. One can assume with a good degree of accuracy that the average Lonely Planet Guide is more directed at individual, younger, audience than Fodors or Frommers of the same location. You can bet that the books by the Churches are aimed at RV,s its in the title and they admit it's not aimed at the tenting traveler. Most of the authors admit to their likes and dislikes throughout the book. That kind of "Disclosure" is generally not done in this kind of forum.

That's what makes the guidebooks a bit more reliable in my mind.

As for websites, too much depends on the individual site. Some site's POV and prejudices are stated up front and some are not.

But the fact remains that what I consider to be a dangerous or difficult drive or place to drive is far different from someone else. Therefore if I was to just respond in a post, "oh take Highway 666 it's ok" the reader would have no clue that I am a guy that doesn't mind driving in Bangkok, Cambodia, Egypt and Sri Lanka. And THAT information puts a whole different spin on my answer, wouldn't you agree?

[4X4Dodger]

msmith1199 wrote:
Then why are you here reading and commenting on an RV forum about "Roads and Routes" if all the advice is useless yet nobody is a moron? They just aren't smart enough to give good advice and people who are taking the advice aren't smart enough to sort through it and pick what they want to use? But they aren't morons!

You must get very tired jumping to so many conclusions.

I asked you to re-read the original post and the comment that I was commenting on as well as my post....I think you are confused.

In any case It was the GENERALITY of the original question that makes any answers dubious at best. And it is still true that people who comment on a particular route bring to that their own prejudices and fears (steep windy roads, dirt vs paved, Freeway vs two lane etc)

I never said nor did I infer that anyone was not smart enough to decide for themselves. Nor did I ever say that ALL the answers were useless. (it depends on the question, how detailed it is, whether or not the answer contains the writers preferences or facts and how detailed the answer is, These are what determines if the answers are of any use)

Now please if you are going to continue trying to quote me or summarize my post at least do me the honor of getting it right.

[msmith1199]

Then why are you here reading and commenting on an RV forum about "Roads and Routes" if all the advice is useless yet nobody is a moron? They just aren't smart enough to give good advice and people who are taking the advice aren't smart enough to sort through it and pick what they want to use? But they aren't morons!

[4X4Dodger]

msmith1199 wrote:

4X4Dodger wrote:

robatthelake wrote:
I ask her because I value the input of others!

Sure I can find My way around every Place on the Planet, there are as You say Maps and Guidebooks. Not to mention Google Earth and Our Faithful GPS!

All that being said none of these resources is as informative as the various opinions expressed by People who have been there recently or who know the various current weather conditions and Routes!

Isn't this the place to exchange useful and informative information?

I thought it was !

Well I understand what you are trying to get at but consider this: Asking this kind of advice from strangers is basically futile. You dont know their experience in driving or their personal prejudices, likes and dislikes. You dont know if they are " 'Fraidy Cats" behind the wheel who look upon every mountain pass as Mount DOOM or if their sense of adventure is driving in INDIA (mine for instance)

The information you may get MAY be good, but the greater chance is it will be biased by someones idea of a bad experience.

As for scenic drives most road atlases denote scenic areas, highways and stretches of highways. And what is scenic to some here might be boring to you.

I think this is what some of the posters were getting at. It's not that your question is wrong or out of place...it's just most likely a total waste of your time because you have nothing to frame the responses in.

So basically you're saying everybody on here is a moron who is going to give you bad advice? Sorry, but I haven't found that to be the case at all. And the big advantage here is you often get advice from multiple people. So if you have 10 people telling you one thing, and 1 person telling you something different, then most of us are smart enough to figure out who to listen to. I have seen bad advice on here, but there is usually somebody right there to counter it.

So Basically you read into every post what you want to read as you did mine...where I never wrote the word MORON nor did I say all advice was bad. I think my point was clear and concise; only that much advice is driven by peoples prejudices and fears and in a medium like this it's often impossible to know what those are. Therefore the advice you get is basically useless especially the way the question is phrased.

And I was responding to A PARTICULAR RESPONSE to the OP's question and THE ADVICE given on it. I made no sweeping generalizations about any other topic. It might be helpful if you re-read the question, the response and my entire answer.

(Edited for clarity to avoid being accused of using the word Moron again.)

[mileshuff]

4X4Dodger wrote:
Well I understand what you are trying to get at but consider this: Asking this kind of advice from strangers is basically futile. You dont know their experience in driving or their personal prejudices, likes and dislikes.

I look for a consensus among those that have driven a particular route or are local to the area. I find I get FAR more reliable info from those here on the forums than I find in some RV/Travel website or book.

Do you know the author(s) of those travel websites or books any more than those here on the forums? What makes one preferable to another? For me its the ability to converse directly and again, gain a consensus.

[toedtoes]

msmith1199 wrote:

toedtoes wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:
So basically you're saying everybody on here is a moron who is going to give you bad advice? Sorry, but I haven't found that to be the case at all. And the big advantage here is you often get advice from multiple people. So if you have 10 people telling you one thing, and 1 person telling you something different, then most of us are smart enough to figure out who to listen to. I have seen bad advice on here, but there is usually somebody right there to counter it.

I don't think anyone is calling folks morons. Just that people have different wants/needs/etc. that affect the choices they make. What is a good route for Joe may be a terrible route for Jim. Sure 10 people are telling you to go via Route X and one is telling you to go via Route B - seems simple, go with the majority. Except, maybe the majority who answered all have small Cs or Bs and the one solo has a 45ft A (just like yours). In that case, you're better off going against the majority.

I've been smart enough to figure all that out when I've either asked for advice or I make sure I clarify when giving advice. This is a RV forum for people to exchange information about RVing. This particular section of this forum is titled "Roads and Routes." By it's very name it is here for people to discuss various roads and routes and ask questions. What I can't figure out is why there are people on this subject that they don't think should be here and complaining about people using the forum exactly like what it was designed for? Seems to me like if you don't think people should be discussing their experience with different routes and asking advice for roads to take that they should not be clicking on a forum that is titled "Roads and Routes!"

I agree with that. If the forum owners have included this board, then there's no reason folks shouldn't ask questions about roads and routes. For me personally, I find that my tastes/wants/needs usually fall outside of the majority opinion. For that reason, I rarely ask questions on internet forums; but I will offer my opinion for those who do ask because someone out there will have the same tastes/wants/needs as I do and will find my "in the minority" or "sole" opinion the right one for them. 🙂

[msmith1199]

toedtoes wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:
So basically you're saying everybody on here is a moron who is going to give you bad advice? Sorry, but I haven't found that to be the case at all. And the big advantage here is you often get advice from multiple people. So if you have 10 people telling you one thing, and 1 person telling you something different, then most of us are smart enough to figure out who to listen to. I have seen bad advice on here, but there is usually somebody right there to counter it.

I don't think anyone is calling folks morons. Just that people have different wants/needs/etc. that affect the choices they make. What is a good route for Joe may be a terrible route for Jim. Sure 10 people are telling you to go via Route X and one is telling you to go via Route B - seems simple, go with the majority. Except, maybe the majority who answered all have small Cs or Bs and the one solo has a 45ft A (just like yours). In that case, you're better off going against the majority.

I've been smart enough to figure all that out when I've either asked for advice or I make sure I clarify when giving advice. This is a RV forum for people to exchange information about RVing. This particular section of this forum is titled "Roads and Routes." By it's very name it is here for people to discuss various roads and routes and ask questions. What I can't figure out is why there are people on this subject that they don't think should be here and complaining about people using the forum exactly like what it was designed for? Seems to me like if you don't think people should be discussing their experience with different routes and asking advice for roads to take that they should not be clicking on a forum that is titled "Roads and Routes!"

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

4X4Dodger wrote:
Asking this kind of advice from strangers is basically futile.

I haven't found that to be so. Certainly wasn't when I was in the military - because all the other sailors were strangers originally. Over the past 40+ years, I've found strangers more likely to give good honest advice than friends telling me what they think I want to hear.

4X4Dodger wrote:
The information you may get MAY be good, but the greater chance is it will be biased by someones idea of a bad experience.

I've felt for a long time that almost all the advice you get on the internet is a biased idea of a bad experience. Which is just human nature - most folks remember the bad things rather than the good things.

Asking advice is just one of many sources of information - but it is still my decision to take that advice or not.

4X4Dodger wrote:
I think this is what some of the posters were getting at. It's not that your question is wrong or out of place...it's just most likely a total waste of your time because you have nothing to frame the responses in.

I find the posts about routes informational almost all the time. Not that I'm planning to go there soon, but I almost always learn something. I very seldom feel a post is a waste of my time reading it - of course it is my choice to read the post. If I felt it was a waste of time - I'd ignore the posts - or this section of the forum.

[toedtoes]

msmith1199 wrote:
So basically you're saying everybody on here is a moron who is going to give you bad advice? Sorry, but I haven't found that to be the case at all. And the big advantage here is you often get advice from multiple people. So if you have 10 people telling you one thing, and 1 person telling you something different, then most of us are smart enough to figure out who to listen to. I have seen bad advice on here, but there is usually somebody right there to counter it.

I don't think anyone is calling folks morons. Just that people have different wants/needs/etc. that affect the choices they make. What is a good route for Joe may be a terrible route for Jim. Sure 10 people are telling you to go via Route X and one is telling you to go via Route B - seems simple, go with the majority. Except, maybe the majority who answered all have small Cs or Bs and the one solo has a 45ft A (just like yours). In that case, you're better off going against the majority.

[msmith1199]

4X4Dodger wrote:

robatthelake wrote:
I ask her because I value the input of others!

Sure I can find My way around every Place on the Planet, there are as You say Maps and Guidebooks. Not to mention Google Earth and Our Faithful GPS!

All that being said none of these resources is as informative as the various opinions expressed by People who have been there recently or who know the various current weather conditions and Routes!

Isn't this the place to exchange useful and informative information?

I thought it was !

Well I understand what you are trying to get at but consider this: Asking this kind of advice from strangers is basically futile. You dont know their experience in driving or their personal prejudices, likes and dislikes. You dont know if they are " 'Fraidy Cats" behind the wheel who look upon every mountain pass as Mount DOOM or if their sense of adventure is driving in INDIA (mine for instance)

The information you may get MAY be good, but the greater chance is it will be biased by someones idea of a bad experience.

As for scenic drives most road atlases denote scenic areas, highways and stretches of highways. And what is scenic to some here might be boring to you.

I think this is what some of the posters were getting at. It's not that your question is wrong or out of place...it's just most likely a total waste of your time because you have nothing to frame the responses in.

So basically you're saying everybody on here is a moron who is going to give you bad advice? Sorry, but I haven't found that to be the case at all. And the big advantage here is you often get advice from multiple people. So if you have 10 people telling you one thing, and 1 person telling you something different, then most of us are smart enough to figure out who to listen to. I have seen bad advice on here, but there is usually somebody right there to counter it.

[msmith1199]

Veebyes wrote:
No, you are not alone. The most mind boggling ones are asking about routes within states like sparsely populated western states where there really are no choices. Not paved ones anyway.

Can you provide some examples of routes within sparsely populated western states where there are no other choices? I live in the west and have traveled extensively in the west and if you're taking more than a 1 hour drive (which is what people on this forum do) I can't think of too many places where there aren't options.

[wing_zealot]

littlemo wrote:

Road Runners wrote:
Yes I have been wondering about that also. But, maybe our military experience was good for something. We learned how to navigate and read and interrupt maps.

Do you have to have "military experience" to interrupt a map? LOL

The military interrupts maps the best - especially when it comes to bridges! Priceless comment, I blew coffee out my nose laughing when I read his post.

[4X4Dodger]

ependydad wrote:

We Cant Wait wrote:
Just curious about all the requests for best routes etc, some even between towns in the same state. Having drove all over Europe while in the military there, and all over the U.S. while driving truck the only references I ever had was, a European Road Atlas, and U.S. Motor Carrier Atlas. Are we as a whole getting to the point that we must have others do more and more things for us by others instead of researching things our self? With all the electronic routing possibilities available to us i.e. Mapsgoole, GPS's, I-Phones, etc it'd seem that planning a route is as easy as a couple of clicks on the key pad.

In all of those years driving all over Europe adn all of the U.S., did you ever sit around with locals and asked "what's a good route to X?" and then follow it with checking your maps? Not once? Never?

Sitting with people face to face and asking these questions is a much different thing than asking on this forum. In face to face encounters you can make a judgement about the person, get info on their driving habits and preferences-prejudices and have some kind of idea how adventurous a person they are...none of which you can do on here. The two things are not the same. HOWEVER...

I cant tell you how many times locals have steered me completely wrong..in Morocco, In Cambodia, in Egypt, In SriLanka and yes even in Europe. And yes even when I spoke the language and/or they spoke English well. Even face to face has it's challenges. Computer to computer is just destined to be problematic.