Does anyone have an app recommendation to plan trips on, that is conducive for use with nav system? Something that can detail legs of a trip, project fuel stops and times, show rv parks along the route, etc.?
We don't use an app, we use the Trip Planner part of the Good Sam site. We can access it in the TV by using our iPad. We use a cradlepoint router and Millenicom usb devise for the camper. When we're on the move we move both to the TV and run off a car charger. Thus we have wifi in the TV. We also have a bunch of park finder apps we use for stops along the way. All Stays, Woodalls, Passport America etc.
Dick and Joyce
2010 Montana 3665RE
Dodge 2500HD Maxi Cab Laramie Edition
Diego, Norm, & Bitsy
This is long, but it contains the sum of years of road trips and current technologic innovations. Read it all, then figure out what will be valuable to you.
We run Street Atlas, we have run Trips&Streets but gave it up as it has some flexibility issues that mattered to us - this may not matter to you. Some people think S&T is easier to use. We also run a mix of navigators while underway, but with the places we go, navigation by paper chart would be real tough.
In past years we tried using online planners - Good Sam among them - as we believed that the information might be more current. It was as inaccurate as any other. AAA was somewhat more accurate. As we have always traveled the less traveled places and maintaining internet used to be an issue, the online version required a forest flattening amount of paper and once printed were then inflexible. I didn't use to carry a printer, but this was still a good source of information like addresses, phone numbers and hours.
We have never found a single package or app that will do everything we want/need effectively. All are lacking something.
Now that is said, what we do now is use three:
We have a Garmin Nuvi for the driver.
We have a Droid smart phone for both internet and local direction.
We have a laptop with GPS that got set up before the excursion started with a planned route in SA. That route contains all stops between departure and the destination. SA will post a marker to the screen to suggest you look for fuel based on the input you give it (tank capacity, MPG and starting level). So, then you use the internet and GasBuddy to find a good fuel price close to your planed route. When you do stop for fuel, set the preference of the stop to a fuel stop and SA adjusts for the full tank at that stop to set the next mark. It will track that if you keep it up to date. The same goes for an End of Day stop. When you see it show up, use either the POI data or Alstays to locate where you want to spend the night. Mark the actual stop and again, it will update for the next day's run.
Google Navigator is consulted for each leg to see what road problems it knows about so they can be avoided. I usually do this during the planning stage with the AAA planner (free if you are a member) but it is not as current as the GN and sure does not know about accidents and other tie-ups. (When a GN route has a RED part, Believe it!)
Each leg is also loaded to the Nuvi so the driver knows the next turn and what to expect. It is difficult to make anything less that the laptop planners understand anything other than shortest or fastest.
This may sound complex, but it is really a very smooth operation once the pilot and navigator understand each other. It makes for very stress free traveling.
I do not manage touch screens well (read - he has fat fingers) so I prefer a real keyboard. That with a car power supply and the GPS puck make it a very powerful tool. The POI data comes form many places, AAA if you are a member, Alstays is another. The Discovery owner's data is amazing (and free - but if you find errors, please contact the keeper of that file). I also have links in the browser for lots of other things. We have had some very rewarding days that were less than one hundred miles.
Matt
Matt & Mary Colie
A sailor, his bride and their black dog going to see some dry places that have Geocaches in a coach made the year we married.
Check out RV Trip Wizard. Its not an app, it's an online site and offers the ability to download your trip plan to a Garmin GPS. I find the planning easy to use and I have been able to use it on the road underway by connecting with a smart phone. Happy planning....
I use MS Streets & Trips that way. What you describe is what it does. Most recent versions of S&T can load routes, but not necessarily whole trip plans, to some brands of GPS. But MS's intention is that you navigate using your Windows computer.
Equivalent apps for mobile devices, haven't found one yet. DeLorme used to be there when Road Atlas supported Palm OS, but Palm OS is no longer supported in recent releases. Similarly, Microsoft supported S&T on Windows CE, then discontinued that support.
Another vote for Streets and Trips although we supplement with the Navigator app on our phones ... DW has an iPhone and I use a Droid, both of which have very good GPS modules.
Both retired. Travel with Nicky the Schnoodle. Son graduated and is teaching high school math. We still love our 2006 34' Allegro Bay XB and have 40,000+ miles on her.
We use streets and trips, gas buddy, Google satellite, Garmin, a Travel atlas, Trailer Life Campground Directory, and feed back from RV.net. Someone on here has probably been almost anyplace you want to RV to and can provide some personal experience. The Streets and Trips Mega POI file has just about everything you need....truck stops, Walmarts, campgrounds, dump stations, et al.
I can make Streets and Trips it take us on the route we want by using the Route options and in some cases designate "avoid" areas. Goggle satellite view of places we plan to stop also helps in the planning process.
Before we transit a large city, we study Streets and trips to determine determine what lanes we need to be in for planned exits rather than just blindly following the Garmin.
Our trip plan includes fuel stops and overnight locations. We use the Garmin for daily navigation.
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