It was a toy, my sons got me for a birthday gift, After having it for a few years, it's not a toy, I like knowing where we are real time, on the map, if I miss a turn, it tells me how to get back on route, I know, if it is a right or left turn to get on a north bound interstate, 1/4 mile ahead of time, so no sudden lane changes. It has more information in it, then I will ever use, but it is there if I want it.
If you don't know, if you want one, then you don't need one. If you used one, you will need one. That sounds stupid.
I just picked one up last weekend. The last two trips we made before the GPS, included detours due to construction and accidents. Both times, we ended up in unfamiliar areas with poor street marking to get us back to the highway. It won't happen again. As soon as I am off of the suggested route, the GPS recalculates a route within seconds without stopping to pull out a map or getting frustrated with DW who is geographically challenged when it comes to map reading.
Terry
Terry & Amy
2004 Hurricane 30F on P32 Workhorse Chassis
2010 GMC Terrain (Towed)
2010 Ford Escape(Future Towed)
Where are we going.....and why am I in this handbasket?
It depends upon how much traveling you do and how many new cities your in. After we got lost twice in Rhode Island twice, I decided to get one!! I really liked it when the better half had to fly home from Orlando and I worked my way back across the country by myself. Wouldn't be without one now in our travels.
One piece of advice, for what its worth. Get the self-contained units that you can take from vehicle to vehicle so you don't have to mess with a laptop.
Good luck and safe travels.
Ron & Carolyn
Happy - Lakeland Terrier
Rose - Welsh Terrier
From sailing yacht to land yacht
KE7BZC
M/V Lothlorien GO HUSKIES Our Trip Pictures Ron & Carolyns Travels
All of the above but mostly to see where you are! We were caught in an unexpected snowstorm while driving from a funeral in Michigan. It was wet, heavy snow and then night fell and the road signs were all covered. We had no idea where our exits were. We had just purchased our handheld GPS and it told us exactly where we were. Now we don't leave on a trip without a GPS (we have two with laptop software, the handheld and a new dashboard Garmin)!
Marilyn w/ Joe, 2000 Xplorer Class B van, usually pulling a Ranger bass boat.
Smudge, (in photo) a Shih Tzu/Yorkie Mix and Gizmo is waiting at the Rainbow Bridge
I'm the first to admit I have no sense of direction. If I was the navigator for Lewis and Clark, we would have ended up in Cleveland. That being said, my wife is worse. After 40 years of marriage the only source of irritation is when I'm trying to find someplace while pulling a 6 ton fiver and have her tell me "You have to turn back there!". I swear it's going to be the death of one of us. So a GPS is our next purchase.
My first Wife Linda, 45+years
2004 F-450 CC, DRW 6.0 Classy Chassis Upgrade
Bulletproof Diesel upgrades
1997 33' Alpenlite
400 Watts Solar
Lifetime Good Sam Member #39644174
Escapees SKP#89882
Its just another toy. You never know just where it will send you. Sometimes it wants to take you right thru downtown instead of the interstate thats actually shorter. Next time, its right on the button. Don't give up the paper maps.....
hershey - albuquerque, nm Someday Finally Got Here
My wife does all the driving - I just get to hold the steering wheel.
Superman was an illegal alien.
Expedition - Suzuki Grand Viagra
We use it to tell us 'how many miles to go" , speed, altitude,time, what time we will be at the destination... We use it to make reservations at restuarants and RV Parks because it has the telephone numbers.. WE LOVE it... My uncle was trying to give us directions to his new home, "turn here, go so far there, turn here etc... I said, "just give me Your address... I put it in the GPS and it took us right there...My nephew bought a "Quisnos' in Utah... I did not know the address but pressed Restaurants, then City... It brought up Quisnos and took us there...It has Emergency Agencies, RV Parks, Flying Js and WalMarts... and on and on...Love it...Some guy was involved in a motorcycle accident and used his GPS to tell the Ambulance and Police how to get to him... GREAT toy...
Sure would be a big stack of paper maps to give you street level detail for the entire US. You'd need and extra trailer just to haul around the paper maps.
We like the arrival time. It's amazingly accurate. Must have next rest area. I have yet to see a paper map, which are hard to read when driving, that tells me how far the next rest area is.
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That being said, my wife is worse. After 40 years of marriage the only source of irritation is when I'm trying to find someplace while pulling a 6 ton fiver and have her tell me "You have to turn back there!"
. I swear it's going to be the death of one of us
. So a GPS is our next purchase.
