Massachusetts Trip for my Mother 7-12-19

To expound on diesel's advice: Pick someplace, ANYPLACE, that's just off I-90 near, say, Buffalo, NY. Make that your first destination. That will force your GPS to stick to I-90. Once you're on I-90 in New York State, enter your Peabody destination. That should put you on I-80/90 in Indiana then I-90 all the way into Mass.

Phil

this certainly went viral in a hurry! Glad to see I'm not the only one with nothing to do, waiting to pounce on that unsuspecting cry for help!

Hi Phranc...I do not consider this a vacation and thank you for the condolences. I guess I will stop in Albany, NY which is about 447 miles per the GPS then on the next day I will have another 463 miles to drive. I plan to stop every hour per my doctor as he didn't want me to get blood clots in my leg.

Can anyone recommend a good Hotel on I-90E in Albany, NY? Someplace $100 dollars or less for the night.

The I87 that's being shown is a south loop around Albany. It will work as long as Peabody is in as your final destination. It will connect back up with I90 and take you where you want to go. If you follow I90 when you get to Albany you will accomplish the same thing. As already said it won't gain you much time.

There are a couple decent motels at the Utica, NY exit also. Easy off and on.

The RestAreasCombined file has the coordinates of the Clifton Springs service area as: -77.176679 42.973431 NY,I-90/NY T'WAY,EB,CLIFTON SPRINGS SERVICE PLAZA, MM337 [RR,PT,VM,Pets,HF]|Gas,Food

This rest area is the 1st one East of exit 45 going East. If you use those coordinates your GPS will pick I90 as the route.

Here's where Google comes in great. One can click on the map and choose Hotels Near here, or Hotels near me and get excellent reccomendaions that have prices. You can use the Search on your GPS, but I think Goole is much more up to date for specific stops like that.

I stayed there numerous times on my trips to Albany. It is easy off and easy on.

Ramada Plaza by Wyndham Albany
3 Watervliet Ave Ext, Albany, NY 12206

Exit is Everett Rd. Turn right and take 1st left. NOTE: There is/was a red light camera at that intersection. I haven't been there in 2 years so can't confirm. It's older but maintained. Restaurant on site and a free breakfast in the morning. I assume its the same breakfast which was not the standard continental.

Hi Phil,

I am trying to figure out what a good place to stop at would be. I thought I was going to stay in Albany, NY but per the GPS it's a 639 miles not the 447 miles I was led to believe. I plan to leave at 5-6 am with a total of 1.5-2 hours of rest time for Bathroom Breaks, Fuel & Stretching. I plan to eat on the road in the car but of course things do not always work out the way they are suppose to.

What your recommend Syracuse or Buffalo NY or some place else.

Thanks again for the time.

My condolences: I went through same thing a year ago with my sister from the Cleveland area.

To go less than $100/night I would suggest the Quality Inn at 2788 Hamburg Street, Schenectady NY. The Quality Inn will be less than $100 and will likely include breakfast . My preference however would be the Double Tree by Hilton (formerly a Holiday Inn) on Nott Street, also Schenectady. Schenectady is an easy in/out as I-90 splits into I-90/I-890 so check hotels in both Albany and Schenectady. Once you cross the Hudson River (east of Albany) there isn't much lodging for quite a distance.

If you are old enough and a member of AARP check those rates to save a few bucks.

On use of Trip Planner, etc. which seems to be confusing to you. You can just do a point to point navigation of each leg. On day 1, program your trip from home to say the Quality Inn in Schenectady. The next day, enter the end point in Peabody as a new trip.

If you like Italian food, go to Cornell's in Schenectady. It will be in the Garmin.

1967 was the year I wound up in Vietnam. Maddog is the nickname that was given to me by my buddies while I was in country.

Thank You John from PA & PWohlrab on the hotel recommendations. I still have a a little over two weeks before I leave so I may be able to master the Trip Planner on the GPS as well as BaseCamp on the computer if time allows. Im trying to get the Funeral set up at the moment.

Believe it or not AARP you can get at age 17 but that depends on if the hotel will honor it. I just got a AARP card to save on my gym membership.

I love Italian food as long as I can get a Vegan dish I am going to try an drive as much as I can. I would like to make it to Albany but its over 600 miles for me. I know people recommended Buffalo & Syracuse, NY. I may have to try these locations if I cant make it to Albany or Schenectady NY.

This motel (the Quality Inn at 2788 Hamburg Street, Schenectady NY.) is rated very good and is priced at $83.00 a night. Just put the address in as your destination for the first part of your trip. For the second part enter your Peabody address. You shouldn't have any trouble at all. Just follow the directions as your GPS gives them to you.

MM00, get to know your device in the next few days, so you can ask questions and get some help and advice, long before you leave. Get very fluent with its capabilities. You are heading out on a pretty big trip, and you are asking some very basic questions, things you need to know before you put your trust in the device. So practice and get back with questions and a status on how you are doing. We won't be available to you once you hit the road. You don't want to do this from an iPhone while traveling.

Keep in mind that you need to get of off I-90 at exit 14, the interchange for I-95 N. If you have the destination programed, let the GPS take you from there.

Buffalo would be roughly half way. I don't know the best hotels as I haven't been there in many years but I would suggest you stay on the eastern side of the city (airport area) to avoid the early morning traffic when you are leaving.

If you think you can make Rochester that 1st day, you will likely find hotel rates lower than the Buffalo area.

Use Google and search lodging when you have NYS on the screen. Search for Microtel. Should be <$100, decent places. There's one in Victor, NY, right between Buffalo and Syracuse. It would be 520 miles from South Bend.

There's also Microtels in Erie, PA and Oneida, NY, right off I-90. Take your pick.

Program the Microtel as the point to force the I-90 plan.

What are you expecting here?

How would I make this route and send it to you? And what would you do with it?

The manual for the 3597 can be found at https://support.garmin.com/support/manuals/manuals.htm?partN....

Specifically, and others have mentioned, you should be concerned with the following.

1. Changing the Route Calculation Mode, page 4 of the manual, page 8 in the PDF reader. Change this to "fastest time".

2. Avoiding Road Features, page 6 of the manual, page 10 in the PDF reader. The manual doesn't have the details, but you want to "uncheck" anything that reads "avoid toll roads".

Forget the use of bootcamp. Download Garmin Express from https://www8.garmin.com/support/collection.jsp?product=010-0... and install it. Hook up the Garmin to your computer and insure everything is up to date. As best I recall there has been a map update in the past six months.

The "content" in the device is quite extensive. All you will need to do for your trip is a "point-to-point" navigation. Put in an address for your end point of the 1st day; hotel for instance. If it is something near Buffalo or Rochester, the device will take you along I-90. As you travel it may tell you about some delays due to construction, accidents, etc. You have to be the judge as to what you do. If it says a 5 minute delay, probably stick to your route. If it says 30 minutes delays, it may offer to take you off I-90 and onto secondary roads and then back on at another entrance 20 miles away. See page 8 as numbered in the manual, page 12 as numbered in the PDF reader.

One last thing, just a quick push on the button on the back does not turn the device off, it places it into standby mode. Standby could possibly run the battery down which isn't an issue on a day to day basis. To actually turn the device OFF, push and hold the button until a display pops up asking if you want to turn the device off.

Half way is about Buffalo. Exit 49 is 1 exit east of Buffalo. Numerous motels right off the exit. Then Exit 45 (Victor) there are a couple. Microtel is one. This exit is just east of Rochester. There is nothing at exit 47 (1st exit for Rochester). There are some at exit 46 which is also a Rochester exit.

Diesel...My understanding with Basecamp is that you could save a route to your gps and also say to your computer or thumb drive.I would use the route for traveling to my destination for the first day.

I will make reservations next week for the half way mark thanks.

MM00, if I were to make a route, or several route options for you, they would be in GPX file format. Could you import them into BaseCamp and use them? Do you know how to import the GPX file into BaseCamp and then get that data on to your GPS?

BaseCamp exports data in GPX file format. I could create the routes, create the GPX files, and email them to you.

How does that sound?

If this sounds like something you can handle, let me know what specific waypoints you want on these routes and I'll make them for you.

In a dense area like Boston and Peabody, GPS settings like Fastest Time or Shortest Distance are somewhat meaningless. Highways are slow, making them competitive with secondary streets. You need to know to get off I-90 at I-95 N, and then what exit to get off I-95 to get to your hotel or wherever you are going in the Peabody area. You should also have some shaping waypoints to make sure you stay on I-95.

If you want to avoid PA between those points you either need to pack a passport or head far far south and explore Delaware and New Jersey. Otherwise you will need to go through Pennsylvania, for example on Interstate 90 near Erie.

Going through that little bit of PA near Erie on I-90 is N-O-T-H-I-N-G when compared to I-80 across the WHOLE state of PA. I-80 is painful, one of the first sections of interstate, constantly under construction, etc. Often voted worst road in America. The OP wants to avoid what I-80 has to offer.

http://www.pahighways.com/interstates/I80.html

1.) I was responding to, "I want to avoid PA all together." You might have interpreting that as 'I want to avoid Interstate 80 all together,' but my comments are based on what was written above.

2.) If you take I-90 past Erie, Pennsylvania, you are also likely looking at taking I-90 across New York state. I'll take I-80 (PA) over that any time.

3.) You seem to be concerned that I-80 (PA) is old and "one of the first sections of Interstate," yet you seem to prefer I-90 (NY) which is older. I-90 (NY) opened 1954-1956.

Aside from the bridge to New Jersey, I-80 (PA) didn't begin to open until 1960 and continued to open until 1970.

4.) I-80 did get bad mentions for road quality years ago from the trucking industry, but it also got most improved. If you are concerned about bad roadway conditions, I recommend avoiding New England states like the plague. Massachusetts has some terrible roads, good grief, although at least the Masspike is maintained a little better then most. Maybe that road will improve now that there are no more patronage tollbooth cashiers, falling cash register medical payments, etc.

There is currently 1 construction area on I-80 (PA) for a mile or two and it is eastbound. I-90 in NY has several.

But at least I-90 has a lot of tolls to collect from you while you take its longer route.

An alternative is to take I-80 east to I-81 north to I-84 east to the Masspike, thence Routes 128/95 North to Peabody. That will save you a lot of time and some money over the pure I-90 route.

Another alternative is to make use of I-86 in New York although be sure to check a map carefully first.

I drive through the USA for about 2,000 miles twice a year. Since I do not preplan where I am going to stop for the night and have no idea what motels are along the way I always stop at the first official Tourist information place, usually just as you enter a new state, and pick up the Motel Discount booklets they have.

Then all you need to do is to check for motels along the Interstate/highway you are using to find some at a reasonable cost.

1. From the OP: "I'm in Indiana and want to take Route 80/90 East and then when I get to Cleveland Ohio I want to pick up 90E all the way to my destination in Massachusetts." Pretty clear.

He's in South Bend. To avoid PA, he'd have to go down through WV, MD, NJ, DE, NYC, CT. Seriously? He could also go north through Canada. But if you read the thread, you should get the gist, and realize absolute evasion of PA is not the objective.

2. I've done several cross country trips (based from CT) and "commuted" to Ohio from CT in the last few years. I do all I can to evade I-80 in PA. I-90 in NYS is a dream compared to I-80 in PA. My daughter went to school in PA and over 4 years, I made sure I never took I-80 to pick her up or to take her back to school. Anything but I-80 in PA. My uncle-in-law was a trucker and he hated I-80 in PA, and he lived in PA, near I-80.

3. Oh boy, a couple years, and the PA I-80 is terribly maintained. It is horrible roadway.

4. I-90 across MA, aka: the Pike, is a dream. Only until he gets to the eastern and more populated part of the state will he run into traffic of any kind. Western MA on the Pike is a dream, wide open. It's been featured in movies because it's so nice. But traffic will be unavoidable once he approaches Boston from any route.

There's going to be construction no matter what on a trip like this. It's construction season.

The I-80 -> I-81 -> I-84 -> I-90 plan is a disaster. We had to do that a few times for funerals and family reunions in PA. Straight I-90 is pure tranquility compared to that option.

I-86 is the old NYS Rte 17, or at least parts of it. Last time I was on there they still had stops for traffic lights and crossings. So you'll be cruising along at highway speeds and all of a sudden, you have a red light staring you in the face. But it is beautiful scenery. Might even see some elk as I-88 goes by Allegheny National Forest. I used to live in the Southern Tier of NYS, and travelled the length of NYS Rte 17/I-86 and I-88 many, many times. After seeing the needs of the OP, this is not as simple as the I-90 route, straight and simple I-90 can get him darn near door-to-door. Maybe on the way home for a change.

I-90 goes through central NYS, the beautiful Finger Lakes region, picturesque. Could be what he needs given the reason for the trip.

However, it seems that the OP likes Italian food, and if that is a priority, I would consider the I-86/I-88 plan so he can pass through Binghamton, NY and dine at Cortese. Perhaps on the way home. This is a fantastic old school Italian restaurant. We moved out of the area almost 30 years ago, but this is still by far our favorite restaurant. Cortese Restaurant, 117 Robinson Street, Binghamton, NY. Perhaps do this route on the way home, for a change in scenery. www.corteserestaurant.com. Cortese is located right at the intersection of I-88 and I-86, could be a good time for a break. Whenever I had the opportunity go through that area since I moved away, I brought my giant cooler and bought several entrees, and literally gallons of the marinara sauce. They have a HUGE take-out business too. It would be a nice treat. I've made detours to go here.

Hi John & All...I am back to planning the route again and were to stop for the first night. I was looking at Albany or Schenectady but I believe that is to far for me to drive. I do appreciate all the recommendations and Restaurant locations to try there. I don't think my back or new knee will like this. I am looking at Buffalo & Syracuse, NY. In the old days I would drive straight though before all these back and knee surgeries.

I have the funeral burial all scheduled and man it's a heck of a lot more money in Massachusetts than it is here in Indiana.

The hotels in Syracuse seem to be cheaper than Buffalo, NY. I notice when I check in on a Friday than say on a Monday it's a lot more money (about $50 dollars more)

Has anyone stayed at a reasonable hotel in Syracuse New York. I decided to go there as I recently had a friend pass away that lived there. Maybe I can stop in and see my friends family and offer my condolences. My friend that is going with me has AARP and we were both former Military so we should be able to get some discount.

To the people that have the Garmin 3597 whats the trick to save my route. I have done this in the past but for some reason my mind went blank on how to do it.

As always thank you all for your time and help!

telecomdigest2 & Diesel...Wow thank you for the extra long message. There was a lot of thought and information that went into this message. I saved your recommendation for the way back for the Italian restaurant and will have to give it a try if time allows. I wanted to go for 2 weeks but the funeral expenses are going to damper the second week for me. Thank you for all your help

Hi Melaqueman...Thank you for the wonderful tip. I believe in the old days this is what we use to do when my father was driving at the time. Ill make a note to do this as soon as I get into New York. Would the hotels be cheaper on say using priceline or getting a coupon book like you suggested. Thank You for your timea and help!

They are right off the thruway (I90) at exit 36 which is the interchange for I81. They are all decent in price and quality. The distance between exit 37 and 36 is about 1 mile. Exit 37 is Liverpool and comes up 1st. For ease I would exit at 37. Make a left after the toll booth and then a left on 7th North St. There is also a Holiday Inn at exit 37 also. Follow 7th North down to the motel areas. I stay at the Country Inn and suites by Radisson because it is across the street from Tully's where I eat dinner.

Getting back to the I90 is getting on North 81 for a short distance and then on to I90 east.

"Has anyone stayed at a reasonable hotel in Syracuse New York. I decided to go there as I recently had a friend pass away that lived there. Maybe I can stop in and see my friends family and offer my condolences. My friend that is going with me has AARP and we were both former Military so we should be able to get some discount."

Pwohlrab...Unfortunately the Holiday Inn on Ext 37 is sold out :< for July 12th. The Country Inn & Suites is $140 a night. I guess I cant expect the Indiana prices. I got a cheap hotel called Americas Best Value inn for $54.93 In East Syracuse. As long as I can get 7 hours of sleep ill be fine. If the bed is not good ill sleep on the floor

I have Day 1 programmed and Saved in the GPS for the Route. I guess when I get to my Hotel I will program in Day 2. As always thank you all for your help.
Now I am working with POI Loader to install the Redlight and Speed Cameras on the GPS. If the Garmin 3597 memory is full will it use my card I have installed.

I have a 4 gig card installed and recently bought a 32 gig card. If you have the Garmin 3597 does the 32 gig card work okay and is there a lag loading maps or anything else.

No lag on the 32 gig card I use with my 3597. I have even used it with the map files loaded on the card.

t923347...Thank You for the response. I will need to use the 32 Gig Card on the next Maps update as my base memory is almost full at 99%. I'v e been putting all my POI's on the 4 Gig card. The next update Ill install the 32 Gig card once I figure out where I put it.

I always found when a town has a major event the pricing at major motels/hotels goes up drastically.

The Country inns was at $99 last year. Americas Best has been one I've stayed at in previous years and was decent and it's a short distance further down the I90.
Safe trip.

Over the years I have found that going to the hotel web site is always cheaper than any of the seller sites like Priceline etc. Be sure and don't just put in the AARP or Military when checking. Also put in best price and senior if you can also. If the site only lets you put in one discount try them all one at a time.

Be sure and look at the policy about free cancellations just in case your trip goes longer or slower than you planed. The Best price will usually have a fee if you have to move or cancel your reservation. Most hotel sites have 24 hrs or same day free cancellation so be sure and look at this.

Get the hotel app you plan to stay in and sign up for rewards before you make your reservations. Even if you don't plan on using the rewards you can check in on line at some and some hotels even let you pick your room before you arrive.
Some of the hotels test or email you when your room is ready.
It's nice to skip the line and just pick up your room key.

Excellent advice Mary!

Hi Mary (Mgarledge)...Thank You for the wonderful advice. I usually stay at a Hotel better than what I did but I figure I can do the cheap hotel for one night. My cousin paid for a nice Hotel for me in Peabody, MA that is over $250 a night for a week. It will be like going from rags to riches on the hotel stay.

I need to keep my costs down because of the very large expense to bury my mother in the Boston, MA area. It would of been about half the cost if my mother was buried in Indiana.

I have my Redlight, SpeedCameras and several other POI's programmed into my GPS which I did last night. With all this planning and getting ready I hope and pray that it's smooth sailing.

You won't get any red light alerts along the interstate. You can check the coverage map and list at http://www.poi-factory.com/poifiles/us/red-light-cameras. Unfortunately I see it's not up to date. How out of date it is I don't know. All I can tell you is it still shows Rochester NY and those cameras have been gone for about a year.

The current file, 7/3/2019 does not have any Rochester, NY entries.

The file I know is up to date. It's the map and the list by states that is out of date.

In all the years I've been downloading and using the files, I've never checked the communities. It's dated 2/10/16. You aren't loading that data, so it's non-starter.

this afternoon I'll manually update the coverage map. It has't been a priority since, as it was mentioned earlier, it's not the actual data. I show the Rochester program ending at the end of Dec. 2016 and we removed their locations from our content on 1/2/2017.

Sorry for the confusion.

~Angela

thumbs Up!

I figured it would help MickeyMouse00 by looking at a map or list especially for New England where he was going because he's not going to get any alert for probably 90% of the trip. He might not get any when he gets to MA either.

I just updated the Cameras that are from todays update of 7-10-2019.

Ill try and stay the speed limit which may be difficult as the towns in MA are only about 25-30 mph unless they changed it from several years ago.

This group of POI Users are amazing. I appreciate everyone's help and patience. Hopefully no one quit the website from all my questions

Just wanted to say THANK YOU for all the help I have received the last few weeks on how to use my GPS better, Installing POI's, Help with formatting the card, helping figuring out my corrupted POI's that gave me the error that I got and so much more.

Ill keep you all posted on how the trip goes. My first day stop Friday July 12th is East Syracuse Mew York providing I have no complications.

God Bless and talk to you all again soon.

MIchael - AKA MicekyMouse00

My first day was okay. I made it to Syracuse on time. I90 is a lot different than driving on I80. New Yorkers like to hog the left lane and not moving if you want to go faster. I90 had a lot of road comstruction. Ill be in Peabody on Saturday afternoon.

I had my Garmin for directions and Waze for everything else.