[N/A] Trip planning - car

Matthew

Matthew

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Matthew
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Looking ahead to a cross-country drive later this year - it's a Point A to Point B, not a sightseeing. I have all the GPS apps for route calculations, but the one's I have are missing one thing: I'd like to be able to say, "Break this trip up into 8 hr legs, and find the closest city at the end of each leg."

Anybody have an app for that?
 
I found something called Track Road (www.trackroad.com) that looks like it might have that capability, although it appears to be some sort of commercial product.
 
Back in my younger days I'd start driving and go until I just couldn't go anymore...then stop. That's how I'd end up in places like Nitro, WV in a roadside motel that looked suspiciously like the Bates Motel and the water in the shower drain would bubble up every time you flushed the toilet.
 
How about a happy compromise, use Google maps to draw you a route, then use the distance tool to mark off 500 mile increments then just pick your closest major destinations. It's not all that many, particularly since you're starting out in the middle anyway.
 
Sac Arrow said:
How about a happy compromise, use Google maps to draw you a route, then use the distance tool to mark off 500 mile increments then just pick your closest major destinations. It's not all that many, particularly since you're starting out in the middle anyway.
Click to expand...
That's the next step. Looking into a reasonably comfortable route to the east coast and back - and I'm trying to time the arrival for AM or mid-afternoon. I used to drive that in college when I went to school in KS and my folks lived in eastern VA. Times were simpler then - I remember getting to WV and seeing the signs "Interstate Ends", I-64 didn't go through, you had to take the US highway until you got the the other side and could pick up I-64 again. Instead of keeping it in good shape, it was cheaper to put up "Rough Road Ahead" signs. Then getting stuck behind coal trucks and seeing all the runaway truck ramps -- those were the good old days.
 
Join AAA. Then go in to their travel dept and they will make all the reservations for you.
 
Years ago I had AAA. Their trip planning things were pretty good. Back in the pre-cell phone days their travel guides were big helps to have hotel phone numbers handy so you could call ahead. The TripTicks were nice, too.
 
So you know the total distance and roughly the average speed, but you want an app to tell you where 8hours of driving will get you? Like Sac Arrow said, mark off 500-600 mile increments and choose the closest major city to them.
 
SoonerAviator said:
So you know the total distance and roughly the average speed, but you want an app to tell you where 8hours of driving will get you? Like Sac Arrow said, mark off 500-600 mile increments and choose the closest major city to them.
Click to expand...
I know, but that sounds too easy.
 
Matthew said:
Years ago I had AAA. Their trip planning things were pretty good. Back in the pre-cell phone days their travel guides were big helps to have hotel phone numbers handy so you could call ahead. The TripTicks were nice, too.
Click to expand...
I used to have AAA too and your post reminded me of all the services they provided that are obsolete. I always got a trip tick just to get the updates on construction info. A few clicks of the smart phone provides an amazing amount of info including real time traffic updates. A lot has changed in the past 20 years.
 
AAA's online route planner is just rebranded Google Maps. But if you call or visit one of their travel agency offices, they'll route the whole trip for you, any way you like, and make all the reservations as well. You'll propbably save some money, too.

Also, some automobile GPS devices have accompanying software that will break trips into legs based on hours, miles, or points of interest, and save the route to the device.

Rich
 
I'm going to take a guess and say the OP isn't a Kerouac fan. ;)

(Just finished reading On The Road, for some reason I'd never read it. Funny to think it was almost too risqué to publish back then... reads like any college kid's road trips these days... Almost. Of course in real life, Kerouac's friend he based a character in another book on, blew his wife's head off with a pistol while drunk in Mexico... perhaps the book is actually pretty tame compared to real life.)

All this planning @Matthew ... Just pop enough Benzedrine to blow out most of your brain cells and drive like a freak when awake as a bipolar schizophrenic, like the Dean Moriarty character!

It's all "kicks" man! Just great "kicks"! "Yesssssss Sal, this is IT!"

Hahaha.

"Set out like Kerouac,
In my American car,
Carrying a dream and a road map,
Deep in my American heart.

Where's those mountain majesties?
Where's those waves of grain?
Billboards from sea to shining sea.
Man, it ain't the same.

I've been searching for the Promised Land,
But it's just another neon, come-on,
Roadside stand.

Little tin toys that fall apart,
That's all we've got here.
Come all this way to find your heart,
All you get is... Souvenirs."

:)
 
Matthew said:
Looking into a reasonably comfortable route to the east coast and back .
Click to expand...

I don't know if it's a comfortable drive or not, but myself I've always wanted to drive Route 66. Think it runs from Chicago to the west coast? That's halfway.
 
mscard88 said:
I don't know if it's a comfortable drive or not, but myself I've always wanted to drive Route 66. Think it runs from Chicago to the west coast? That's halfway.
Click to expand...

There's whole websites devoted to documenting what's left of it. The route is broke up in places or joins an Interstate for a while and almost all of it is part of a re-numbered road along the way nowadays. In some places the original route was bad or a river washed it out, but you can still drive the newer road next to the old roadbed and take detours to go see what's left of it. Depends on the area and whether it got replaced or moved or if the new road was the old road repaved.

My little sis did all the research and photography for a coffee table type book on the architecture of the roadside stands and diners and whatnot along the old Route 66 route, but never got around to publishing it. We think it was just an excuse to plan a road trip and get the rest of the family to "donate" to the cause, but she did send some interesting photos along the way. (She's an architect who specializes in restoration of historical buildings and areas.)
 
Interesting Nate. Thanks. I recently watched a show on TV about it and the roadside stands, diners, and gift shops along the way.
 
denverpilot said:
I'm going to take a guess and say the OP isn't a Kerouac fan. ;)

(Just finished reading On The Road, for some reason I'd never read it. Funny to think it was almost too risqué to publish back then... reads like any college kid's road trips these days... Almost. Of course in real life, Kerouac's friend he based a character in another book on, blew his wife's head off with a pistol while drunk in Mexico... perhaps the book is actually pretty tame compared to real life.)

All this planning @Matthew ... Just pop enough Benzedrine to blow out most of your brain cells and drive like a freak when awake as a bipolar schizophrenic, like the Dean Moriarty character!

It's all "kicks" man! Just great "kicks"! "Yesssssss Sal, this is IT!"

Hahaha.

"Set out like Kerouac,
In my American car,
Carrying a dream and a road map,
Deep in my American heart.

Where's those mountain majesties?
Where's those waves of grain?
Billboards from sea to shining sea.
Man, it ain't the same.

I've been searching for the Promised Land,
But it's just another neon, come-on,
Roadside stand.

Little tin toys that fall apart,
That's all we've got here.
Come all this way to find your heart,
All you get is... Souvenirs."

:)
Click to expand...
I've read "On the Road".

This isn't going to be THAT trip!
 
Matthew said:
I've read "On the Road".

This isn't going to be THAT trip!
Click to expand...

Aww come on man, I'll show up at your house and we can drive all night! Maybe catch some cats blowing in Denver! Hehehe. Blow man blow!
 
One of the downsides of the ruler tool on Google maps is that it does straight line distance. Not always that handy.

What I did was use it to get close, then calculate a route to a nearby city, then mark the time and distance that way. I found a couple of stops that will break up the trip and get me there the right time of day.

I'll find out in about a month if I have to re-do the whole thing to a different destination.
 
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