T minus 7 days... (towns, road, conditions)

[Rance]

I bought one of the Garmin NUVI here in PA. Right off the bat it took me up some wagon trail and wanted me to turn left onto this road that was nothing more than a cow trail.
It works ok on the highway here...but couldn't find anything in Alaska. Even after uploading the free map upgrade. My little car icon was driving out in the water going along Turnagain Arm!

[warptman]

My Nuvi works great in Anchorage and all the way to Fairbanks. Doesn't work here in Bethel though.

[akck]

Originally Posted by richelles

I drove up last September with a Garmin NUVI and it worked well. The main reason I bought the Garmin with the voice is because it got me in the correct lane several blocks before I was there so I could get onto the Interstates in the right lane. Here in Alaska it works well but the Microsoft extra isn't worth it here. In the lower 48 it is a reliable means of finding anything you want. But up here I didn't use the subscription because it provided nothing worthwhile. Make sure it is far forward in the window so it always sees three satellites and sometimes the speed limits it shows are way off base. When using it for directions you can insert a city 100 or so miles ahead and don't use an address there and you'll get turn by turn instructions but when you get within five miles enter another city 100 miles ahead of you so it stays correct on what road to be on. The bad thing about it is the algorithm takes the shortest, but not necessarily the best route, when you're not on the Interstate system. I haven't found it necessary to buy the additional maps since the internal maps are pretty complete. The female voice is comical at times when she tells you you're on the wrong road or should make a U turn to get back to where she wanted you to go.

I like the voice too for that reason. I don't have one, but on son does. On thing they like doing is setting it to a foreign language. I agree that the shortest route it comes up with is not always the best route and sometimes the next exit with a little backtracking would have been the better choice.

[blueflames50]

Originally Posted by akck

I like the voice too for that reason. I don't have one, but on son does. On thing they like doing is setting it to a foreign language. I agree that the shortest route it comes up with is not always the best route and sometimes the next exit with a little backtracking would have been the better choice.

have you gone into the tools and set avoidance's??? you can set for shortest distance and many other options...makes a difference where it will take you and by which route.

[freezengirl]

Nine days and counting down!

[FloridaKash]

Originally Posted by freezengirl

Nine days and counting down!

Someone sounds excited!

[freezengirl]

I am beyond excited! Funny how things work out in life. I think I was maybe fifteen years old when I decided I was going to go to Alaska. I wanted to see Alaska, the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, everything that "up north" meant in my imagination. I grew up along the Canadian border, on Rainy Lake. One of our old family friends used to spend a lot of time up in that part of the country and she would bring back the most amazing stories and things from her travels. I always knew that someday I too would have my own journey there. Of course I was fifteen, time, distance and life kind of got in the way, I almost forgot about my dreams. Here I am 35 years later, embarking on them.

[akck]

Originally Posted by blueflames50

have you gone into the tools and set avoidance's??? you can set for shortest distance and many other options...makes a difference where it will take you and by which route.

I was driving in a city I know, but I didn't know the exact location of the restaurant. I don't think any setting changes would have made a difference (both were major crossings). It did change to the better route once I passed the exit it wanted to take.

[mtnengr]

Picked up my U-Haul yesterday. It only has 20,000 miles on it and looks to be relatively new. It drives pretty smoothly considering it's a U-Haul. It should be able to do the job. It doesn't have a CD player or even a tape deck. 3,000 miles may go by a bit slow with only AM/FM radio.

Good thing that I have an FM transmitter for my iPod.

[momofmany926]

Happy Traveling Mtnenger!