Keeping the Windmill Alive - Where was your last trip with your GPS?

I use my Magellan Meridian Gold mainly for saving and returning to good fishing spots and geocaching. I really did not have a need for a turn by turn GPS. My wife had a surprise party for me in Spetember and I received lots of cash and gift cards. Being the gadget hound that I am I bought the TomTom One and I like it a lot. My wife and I go to Easton, PA a couple of times a year to go to the state theater. Every time on the way way home We get confused with all the one way streets in town. We never got home the same way twice. The last time the One took us directly back to the interstate and home. For geocaching it works well because it will take you as close as it can, on roads, to the cache. with out driving around to much.

I can not wait to try it going to a place where I really have no Idea where I am going.

A few years ago it would have been great when I was traveling to and from different client site daily.

Beautiful Park!!! i5 got me there from Vegas -- no problems.

I use my TOMTOM 6 all the time. I have connected Holux bluetooth internally so I do not have to turn on/off all the time. If I want to use the GPS, I just turn on my Palm TX. Using POIs that I get from here, my GPS is the best!

I took a trip new orleans, ft walton beach, jacksonville fl, orlando, houston, then to reno nv, then home to tx. No probs

it usually takes me 4 hours from md to ny. this time i decided to use my nuvi 660. it knocked off 45 mins on my trip without excess speeding. i have taken that trip for years now but the way the nuvi showed me well i plan to use it from now on.

my only problem is my fm traffic reciever subscription has expired and I tried to renewal but it didn't work. has anyone else had this problem? I bought the renewal but the nuvi didnt accept the code.

I love the traffic reciever it saved me from an all day traffic jam on the nj turnpike last year.

I drove to my Brother in Laws for thanksgiving and because of traffic I got off at a Different exit, and my 330 got me right to his house. Saved at least 10 miles. I have a new favorite route to his house.

I drove from Virginia to Alabama a couple of weeks ago. My nuvi 660 performed flawlessly. Travelled down on I-85 thru Atlanta and back home up I-81 thru Tennessee. Had a couple of mistakes with the Rest Area locations north of Birmingham. It picked them up but they were on the wrong side of the highway. Anyway, no big deal. A couple of times, the nuvi routed me thru some side streets in Birmingham but was right on the money for getting me to the location. As it turned out, it was the quickest route.
I use a bean bag mount with my 660 and it is quick and easy to locate on the dash or wherever. I would recommend it highly.

Hi Cheryl,

Two weeks ago, I flew from San Francisco to Newark and recorded a ground speed of 590 mi/hr., which I might add, will never be reset on my Nüvi 670...

Regards,

tailspin

While heading home from a month long trip we stayed in Santa Fe for a few days at a remote RV park. Wife "needed" to have her nails redone and when she was done in the shopping center she left by a different exit on a moonless night. After driving around and getting totally lost. Then she remembered that she took the Nuvi 370 with her and just recalled our motorhome location. It brought her back to me! :>)

Looking forward to using the 370 while motorhoming in the UK next summer!

Tell her about Geocaching. Its the worlds Largest Scavenger Hunt. You use a GPS to find Caches that other cachers have hidden. Its FUN!!!

The Steaks

Work, like the traffic feature!!!

Its a shame Stacey Peterson didn't have a gps with her late last month. The house she was living in is exactly one mile from my driveway.

I can't keep mine alive since I haven't been a member long enough to earn one. I did take a trip to a lawyers office that I had no idea where it was and my nuvi 200 seem to want to stay on the secondary roads. It didn't like the highway much at all but it got me to where I was going with no problems.

I us my c 330 for geocaching, driving around week end's, always geeting me on the spot. A few exceptions but so little.

Another week down, another week closer to the all elusive windmill.

Two days ago I went to San Antonio Texas with my C340 but I had trouble to find any address I type it come up with not found I enen tried to put the intersection . It takes the street1 then street 2 but finially comes up with can not found.
The only address it found in San Antonio was what ever was in for point of interest.

My unit is only few months old and I thing I have athe latest version software in it .
If any one have the solution please let me know
thank you

Shamee3, give us the address so someone can trouble shoot it for you. I had the same problem a while back, and the problem was not putting a -(dash) between the CR(County Road) and the road number. Like, CR-34. Now, no problems at all. These things are temper mental sometimes. It's not the GPS fault, it's the imputter (that a word?).

THIS IS A GOOD ADDRESS AND YOU CAN FIND IT IN GOOGLE MAP
BUT ON C340 IT COMES UP WITH NO MATCHES FOUND
430 E Commerce St, San Antonio, TX 78205

Searching with the "E" in Mapsource comes up with no match, but, leave the "E" off on the search, it comes up as a choice in a list.

The less you put in the greater chance you have getting what you want. I never put the city, just the state and I never put street, lane, etc. I just put the name, such as broad, not broad street.

On a recent business trip to Southern CA I found a local coffee shop instead of an over priced hotel breakfast. It's a pretty small success but a cool one for a relatively new GPS owner!

Just curious, how old is that address? Perhaps late 2006 or 2007? I believe it must be a recent development.

Our last trip out on the road was from Costa Mesa, California to Berkeley, California. My wife is not much for high tech gadgets, so she was some what skeptical when I brought the GPS from my work vehicle. The early part of the trip was fairly routine, so she was still trying to see why we might need a GPS. She became interested upon seeing where food and gas could be obtained. The distance and arrival time to our destination also intrigued her. I knew that the ultimate acceptance of our GPS came after several departures off our route for gas, food, ect. and that “annoying voice” came on “recalculating” and my wife named our GPS “Gladys” after her mother!!

It has been way too long since I last used my Zumo. The cuse of living in NE Ohio with cold and snow makes motorcycle trips this time of year a little difficult. True I could use it in other ways, but it is just not the same...

I saw a motorcycle out yesterday. We have over 17 inches of snow. He must have a death wish.

Yeah, for sure. I wouldn't take a bike out in snow...oh well some aren't a smart as us...lol.

I live in sw Michigan and I see bikes out and about all times of the year. You don't see the young kids with there two wheeled rockets, the bikers that do ride in the winter are the more dedicated riders (and experience). I don't think it's crazy to ride in winter but you do need to pay more attention to the conditions and the drones (I only call the daydream drivers drones) in the cars. Well that’s my 2 coppers; I'll let you return to your regularly scheduled forum postings.

Not only drones, but potholes, snowbanks that obstruct view, ice ruts, sand and salt that'll do a number on the bike. Think I'll wait 'till Spring.

Looking out the window now at a fresh 8 inches of snow. So it'll be a while longer.
I'll watch American Chopper and my DVD's of Discovery Channel bike build off. Then watch Boston's Chronicle (tv show)and Toodtv for fun places to ride to.

It's time-release rain

Finally getting two days in a row above freezing, turning my driveway & sidewalks into a wet mess that will freeze overnight...

Really boring along the I5 though.

No long trips with the Zumo; however, have spent the past few days mapping out a few routes for this coming riding season including a trip from DC to Milwaukee for the Harley 105th anniversary and a trip down south to ride the Natchez Trace Trail. Also completed routes of some incredible roads in the area of Tennessee, Kentucky, & Virginia... including the Tail of the Dragon, The Devil's Triangle, and The Witch's Knuckle... plus a few more. Should be a great riding season!!!

I love mine for helping me navigate Los Angeles while picking up good deals that I find on Craigslist.

The first time I used mine for a cross country trip I felt a little uneasy. I'd always used maps, but I always made a wrong turn, or missed a turn. But after a long trip that went totally error free.. I wouldn't have it any other way.

They are also great around Houston. I've had people say they think they're unneeded once you know your way around. Well, let me tell you when there's a major accident on the beltway down in Houston, I can bail, confident that my GPS will re-route me automagically.

I suspect someday they will be standard in all cars.

I totally agree, they will be a standard in cars in the not to far off future. I use mine locally all the time, even if I know the route for the exact same reason.

In truth, I really should take a map and mapquest directions for backup, but I don't. Will probably get burned one day when my GPSr dies on me.

In Houston, we have 'Key Maps'. They are street maps in a spiral binder. I do have one.. They are about 25 bucks. I don't think the one I have covers the entire city. They have an index for streets that's simple to use.

I have one in my Ford, but I much prefer the Magellan.

Anyway, the prices on GPS units are dropping. My Magellan 3225 was only $150 at Costco. And I've seen units on sale for sub-100, though they were not recognizable brands..

It really is a safety feature..

I have a Magellan 2200t and I sometimes hate it and sometimes I love it.

I went to Albany from NYC recently using my gps and got directed straight to birthday party at a restaurant in Colonie that I had never been too. That was great.

After staying overnight at a hotel close by ,we began our trip back to NYC with a planned stopover at the Woodbury Malls. Trusting the gps, (set to make max use the expressway) I expected it would direct me to the NYC turnpike with no problem and then it would be clear sailing from there on. Having some guests with me, I got distracted and missed one of my turns. Expecting the gps to redirect me back to the freeway, I kept following the directions it gave which had me on local roads. After quite a few turns and half an hour, I was still on local roads and my calculated eta was now 5 hours instead of 3. I kept at it for an additional 10 minutes hoping I would still get back on the freeway but... Finally, I decided to reverse my route from memory. When I finally got back to where I exited from the freeway, I had the gps recalculate the route. This time it got me back on the correct route. Oh, well...

This year again, I made my trip to Daytona beach with my new Nuvi 250W, and made my nuvi avoid tool boots and it worked fine.

I've only made one long trip since I got my Nuvi 260 for Christmas, and that was from Denver CO to Ft. Myers FL. The GPS was flawless on the 2200 mile trip.

I'm looking forward to spring setting in so I can do some exploring on the plains and in the mountains here in Colorado this year. My wife and I love to take day trips to no place in particular, and see what we find along the way. The Nuvi will just add to the adventure, and maybe help us to discover more things to see as we drive.

I'd be happy just to get a windmill. I created a poi file and uploaded it and didn't even get a poi contributor badge for it, lol.

Anyway, my first big trip with the 680 was in DC with the family and it was a marriage saver. I didn't have to rely on the wife's navigational skills, or lack thereof, and we didn't miss a single turn. I pulled down the DC attractions file and was so impressed with it that I felt obliged to try to put something together for Pittsburgh, I'm still working on restaurants and hope to get to put together an attractions file someday.

I took it to Shreveport the following week and it put me on the wrong entrance ramp. It said entrance to 20 East on right when in fact it was on the left, West was on the right. I did a little back tracking on that excursion.

Miss POI sometimes forgets about the Contributor badge, I have it added now.

Miss POI

It became evident that I would need additional help in my business going into 2008. The trips are getting longer, becoming more frequent, and they extend deep into large metropolitan areas. Someone to help drive would be great, but I decided that I didn’t want to delegate the driving, and if I could get some relief from some of the other aspects of the job, I would have a more successful year. The perfect person would be my wife, since going along on the trips is a prerequisite. However, my wife has her own business to run, and she wouldn’t relish being on road all day, every day.

After careful consideration, I selected Jill to be the one to travel with me. Karen was also a good candidate, but she spoke in a really low voice, and I had to listen very carefully to understand what she was saying.

As it turned out, Jill was the perfect choice. She doesn’t mind the long drives, even those that require an overnight stay, she never complains, and the only time that I sense a little anger is when I ask her to find us a different route, and then as soon as she does, I ask her to find another one. Although she has only made a few trips with me, I have to wonder how I ever got along without her. She is the most informed lady that I have ever met.

From the beginning it was apparent that she had traveled extensively. Not only is she familiar with every city from South Texas to Northern Canada, she could qualify as a tour guide for Alaska. She knows her way around every city you can imagine, and just about every street.

On a recent trip to Baton Rouge, I wanted to find a room for the night close where I had to be in the morning. Thanks to Jill, I was able to contact all the motels within 5 miles of our destination, while still in route. I got the rates, the distance from the highway, information about the rooms, and how far it was from my final destination. She also told me where all the various eateries were in the event I got hungry.

As we approached Baton Rouge at 7:00 p.m. on interstate 10, Jill analyzed the traffic conditions, and informed me that we were headed toward a backup. I requested a detour, and with her assistance we were able to navigate around a rather bad accident scene and not lose more than a few minutes getting to the motel. The next morning I took a wrong turn the final leg of my trip, and she quickly told me the quickest way to get to where I wanted to go.

As we approached an intersection on our way out of the city, the light turned yellow. I started to accelerate to beat the red light and Jill warned me that the intersection had a red-light enforcement camera. I immediately slowed down, the last thing I needed was a large fine for running a light.

Our route back to Dallas took us across Highway 190 to Lafayette where we would intersect with I-49 north to Shreveport. Somewhere between Lafayette and Alexandria, Jell warned about a portion of the highway that had been known as a “speed trap” in the past. Sure enough, less than a mile up the road, there was a highway patrol car in the medium and two more sitting on an entry ramp waiting to pounce on the first violator. Again, I found myself indebted to Jill.

As we approached Alexandria, I tried to think how I could repay Jill for all that she had done in making this trip a success. Then It came to me.

A card. Yes a simple card, a SD memory card. After all what lady couldn’t use more memory.

Thanks!! I was only trying to be a smartie!

BTW, I take it I made the file OK. I put it in gpx format so I could have phone numbers. I like to be able to dial via bluetooth.

I just got back from New Orleans. The Garmin Nivu 660 worked perfectly. This was the fist time I had visited the City. I drove right up to the hotel without an issue.

I also used it going to Las Vegas to work with a friend who lives out there. I fired it up on the airplane and registered 32,102 feet with a "travel speed of 582 mph". I watched my mini cooper icon fly on the nation from Allentown, Pa to Las Vegas, NV in 5 and half hours. Everyone in the plane wanted to know if we were on time.

I travel a lot with my job. I won't live without this tool.

Three days ago, I picked up a friend about two hours from home. Glad I had the GPS, otherwise the place would have been hard to find.
Also, I am looking forward to using my GPS in Spain in two weeks.

I used the Nuvi to get me to an unfamiliar restaurant in San Carlos, CA. It is definitely nice to get up and go in the car knowing my trusty electronic companion will get me there.

Just returned from 7 days in Arizona and used my Nuvi250W in a rental car. Pre-set all our motels and sites to visit in Favorites and it worked like a charm. No maps or arguments or worries. Too bad we can't get this information out to the poor souls who don't have a GPS. All these stories would be a good advertisement for Garmin.

That is funny that you said that. After I got mine, 4 of my coworkers got it. Two of my friends got it, and one of them got about 5 of his family to buy one. My father got one as well as my aunt after I got mine.

Most recent fare from NYC to Philadelphia, PA. Smooth sailing. The feeling of not getting lost is so relaxing.

This weekend I took a short trip to Chicago. Took in a hockey game. Garmin got me in and out with out a problem

My last trip was to a hard to find shooting range. My wife has decided that she wants to try out skeet shooting! The closest range is buried in the hinterlands - but the GPS found it!