07-17-2017, 11:21 PM
I have not found an app/program that works very well. Scenic is probably the closest, but it failed me once on my last trip to West Virginia. A friend of mine recently told me about a program that takes your route set on Google and downloads it in tact into a Garmin or TomTom device, but I have not seen it.
I cannot read most paper maps, so I do the following:
1. create my route on my PC in Google Maps (usually a new route for each day of the trip, but if there are a lot of deviation from Google's recommended route, I may break a day into 2 or 3 legs)
2. I share the link to that route via email to myself and any other interested people.
3. I print the turn by turn and then copy them by hand in my own shorthand, large enough to read, and keep both the google printout and my notes in my map pocket on my tank bag. (Transcribing them has the added benefit of reinforcing the directions in my mind). Sometimes I use loose leaf paper, but I found a spiral notebook that fits in my map pocket which I use and keep as a log of the ride.
4. I keep all the links for the routes in a single email and in a designated folder in my email. I use this for reference in case I screwed something up in the transcription or so I can open Google Maps to see my way around a detour (only works if you have a cell signal, though)
I break my notes up into one leg per page so that I can keep it readable. I turn the page to the next leg after the stop, although sometimes this is a mile or so after we take off on leg 2 LOL.
If I'm leading in an unfamiliar area, I try to use Google Street View on my PC to see what important intersections or other landmarks look like; I may make a note about them on my directions, e.g. "turn right just past the post office".
This all sounds complicated when it's typed out, but it really doesn't take much time and it works very well for me.
Addendum....The original post was yesterday and he indicated he's leaving today so I think I just may have wasted 10 minutes of my life typing this out. LOL
I cannot read most paper maps, so I do the following:
1. create my route on my PC in Google Maps (usually a new route for each day of the trip, but if there are a lot of deviation from Google's recommended route, I may break a day into 2 or 3 legs)
2. I share the link to that route via email to myself and any other interested people.
3. I print the turn by turn and then copy them by hand in my own shorthand, large enough to read, and keep both the google printout and my notes in my map pocket on my tank bag. (Transcribing them has the added benefit of reinforcing the directions in my mind). Sometimes I use loose leaf paper, but I found a spiral notebook that fits in my map pocket which I use and keep as a log of the ride.
4. I keep all the links for the routes in a single email and in a designated folder in my email. I use this for reference in case I screwed something up in the transcription or so I can open Google Maps to see my way around a detour (only works if you have a cell signal, though)
I break my notes up into one leg per page so that I can keep it readable. I turn the page to the next leg after the stop, although sometimes this is a mile or so after we take off on leg 2 LOL.
If I'm leading in an unfamiliar area, I try to use Google Street View on my PC to see what important intersections or other landmarks look like; I may make a note about them on my directions, e.g. "turn right just past the post office".
This all sounds complicated when it's typed out, but it really doesn't take much time and it works very well for me.
Addendum....The original post was yesterday and he indicated he's leaving today so I think I just may have wasted 10 minutes of my life typing this out. LOL