Waypoints vs. Via Points vs. Trip Planner vs. MapSource

I can think of a couple of things I would do differently. First off, you don't say what time of year you are going, I would assume "Snowbird Season" which means after Thanksgiving.

I would head south either picking I-40, I-20, or I-10 as the E-W route. I would then program in the intersection of the N-S and E-W Interstate highways as the waypoint. I wouldn't worry so much about waypoints on the E-W segment unless it is to establish lodging points. Same thing for the N-S.

We'll be doing something similar this fall, and the only points I'm setting are hotel/motels. I've checked the route using Streets & Trips and Mapsource, they both pretty much pick the same route. I know i will be going off the Garmin route at one point to stay on the Interstate. It's a few miles further, but will end up being at least an hour faster because the Garmin doesn't take traffic lights on secondary highways into consideration.

Carry an Atlas. Review the day's run BEFORE you start so you know if it's taking you on secondary roads to "save a few seconds."

EDIT: Sometimes fewer waypoints is better.

when I am making a long trip where I want to deviate from the routing that my NUVI 260 would send me, I make up a Custom POI file with via points which I make up using Mapsource or MS Streets & Trips, get the coordinates from that source and make the via point file. I have a vi a point file in my 260 all the time as I prefer certain routings from FL to New England/Upstate NY and also certain routings getting to AZ. Typically, the via points are a spot on a highway I want to take such as (ex: I-81 NB near Winchester, Va or US-17 NB Fredericksburg). Just click on the location in Mapsource and get the coordinates.
Just my way of doing things. My via file probably has 75 locations in it.

Waypoints / Via points are different names for the same thing... like a push pin on a wall map.

Are you using just the generic city name as the waypoint? Those are randomly assigned.

What I'd do, using MapSource - put in the start and end points, let it compute the route, then you can drag the route within MapSource to reflect what you want, then load the route to your GPSr.

Thanks everyone.

Appreciate your help!

Jim

but unfortunately if the OP is trying to do this with his nuvi 3790T, route transfer from Mapsource is not supported at this time.

I do the same thing but I make separate POIs files for going and returning.

I also name each POI in the file with a number in front, that is tied to the route order. Since the GPS puts everything in order of closest to farthest, the first point that shows could be the point that you just passed. This helps you keep it in your own mind, which point to use, or helps maintain marital bliss, if your spouse is entering the new waypoints.

I use GeePex Editor, but ExtraPOI Editor is also excellent. EPE is free but GeePex has bigger map and satellite screens.

I go to satellite view and zoom in on the waypoint and drag the marker to the center lane of a throughway or to the correct side of the street so that you definitely cross through the waypoint. If you don't do this you could put your waypoint on the east side of the highway, when you're going west. The GPS will want you to exit and go back in the opposite direction. This is part of the reason that I have separate files for going and returning, plus you might use a totally different route on the way back.

The easiest way to deal with this issue is put the waypoint on the highway past the city. If you choose Chicago as a waypoint on the route, it chooses the center of the city.

So, just put the point elsewhere.

Does the 3790T do waypoints from mapsource? Do the route in Mapsorce... drag the route to where you want it to go... use the waypoint tool to create a couple points on the route... import those on the 3790T, create a route on the device using the waypoints. Should give the illusion of transferring the route from Mapsource.

Yes, you can transfer waypoints from Mapsource to the 3790T. The problem then becomes that you can't create a route on the 3790 as it doesn't have a Create Route function.

The 3790 handles route creation with a facility called Trip Planner. It's much like the route function in other Nuvi's as far as the selection of points is concerned but the actual behavior of the Nuvi while driving from one route location to another is different and it does take some research and practice to fully understand it.