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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / RVs / September 2007Looking for travel planning software or service
Maybe someone out here can help. My wife and I are in the planing stages of a long excursion. There is a lot to see in this country, and nobody has the time to see all of it. I am looking for a program or service that will advise me of attractions along a possible route. For example: If I am going from Chicago to the west gate of Yellowstone NP by way of Rapid City, I would like to be advised that some things will be in easy striking range (target of opportunity). Such as, Mt. Rushmore NM, Devils Tower NM and Wall Drug (tourist trap- I’m told), along with an approximate distance off the best track. SA almost gets there with the “Along the way” function, but museums and such are limited to a 10 mile radius and mixed with art galleries (private and publicly owned). Don’t even ask for parks. AAA tour guides are somewhat helpful, but in some cases a very desirable target may be two states away (real easy to do on the east coast - A friend was in New Hampshire and didn’t know he was an hour from Ft. Ticonderoga and he is a history teacher). Or, you may burn a bunch of time considering something on the other corner of one of those big square states that is just not a practical stop. Yes - I have done numerous searches for road trip planning software and services, but even the best search doesn’t get me what I am looking for. We have time to do this, but not unlimited time. We are not opposed to buy books or software, but none of the travel packages I have looked at do quite what I am asking. > Maybe someone out here can help. > [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > buy books or software, but none of the travel packages I have looked at do > quite what I am asking. Contact each state's Tourism Department and request their guides on what to see, what to do and where to stay. They will probably have a publication that is a statewide overview and then region specific publications with much more detail often with a calendar of local events. If you are coming to Bozeman, MT via I-90 and then going south to West Yellowstone, you may want to stop at Buffalo, WY or Sheridan, WY and take a day trip into the Bighorn Mountains. Northwest of Buffalo a couple of miles there is a wildlife loop drive that is nice to take a hour or so before sunset, lot of deer, antelope and turkey with elk in the fall. On I-90 between Sheridan, WY and Hardin, MT the Battle of the Little Bighorn site is interesting. When you go through Gillette, WY you may want to drive by one of the open pit coal mines, one NW of town has a view point. The Chamber of Commerce visitor center used to offer a bus tour of one of the mines. While at West Yellowstone you may want to take a day trip to Virginia City, MT and Nevada City, MT. They are old mining towns with many original buildings some of which are set up with period merchandise. Other old buildings contain restaurants and shops. Virginia City was MT's territorial capitol from cir 1865-1875. Nevada City is basically a state museum, but Virginia City is free and many of the building have National Register of Historic Places plaques. Do you need more info, how many months are you going to be in the area? <g> Ron Thanks Ron, >> Maybe someone out here can help. >> [quoted text clipped - 58 lines] > > Ron Thanks Ron, The Problem: We don't actually know yet which states we will be in or even close to. This is the problem that the AAA guides don't solve. At this time, we only have the short list and would like to connected the dots to make the 9000 mile and couple/three months on the road fun and interesting. Matt > Thanks Ron, >>> Maybe someone out here can help. [quoted text clipped - 70 lines] > > Matt That is easy, just request info from all the western states and western provinces of Canada! <g> Remember that early in the summer some mountain roads may not be open for one reason or another. This summer the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park didn't open until July 1 due to snow clearance and repairs. We have also found a mountain drive in eastern OR that didn't open until the end of June due to snow (they don't plow it and it has to melt before the road is open). We have also found roads open, but turn outs, picnic areas and parking lots clogged with snow in early July in the mountains west of Laramie, WY. Ron >Thanks Ron, >>> Maybe someone out here can help. [quoted text clipped - 69 lines] > >Matt Why don't you take a map, pick out the attractions you want to see. Then connect the dots, instead of picking a route and looking for stuff.  SignatureFrank Tabor > Maybe someone out here can help. This is a great book. http://tinyurl.com/34n8lj Be sure to read the customer reviews. -- >> Maybe someone out here can help. > > This is a great book. > http://tinyurl.com/34n8lj > > Be sure to read the customer reviews. I'm going to look into this one. Matt > > This is a great book. > > http://tinyurl.com/34n8lj [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > I'm going to look into this one. > Matt I don't think you will regret it. I bought this one because of earlier editions that I have. I also have "Off the Beaten Path" and "See the USA" which is also Reader's Digest. I buy local/ regional books once in the area, but if I had to choose out of maps, GPS, etc. books, I'd choose the one I recommended to you. I hope you enjoy it and will let the group know how you like it. Doesn't hurt that it's on sale, either. :-) I keep a couple on hand to give as gifts. I have seen places/things in my travels that I never would have seen without the books that I have. -- > Maybe someone out here can help. > [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > buy books or software, but none of the travel packages I have looked at > do quite what I am asking. Matt, We've never found a single source for all you are searching for, but here a few web sites that I use in our planning (not official state ones) For finding interesting museums: http://www.museumsusa.org/ For factory tours: http://factorytoursusa.com/Index.asp For festivals, car shows and events: http://www.festivals-and-shows.com/index.html Information about cities: http://www.frommers.com/ Quirky stuff: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/ General travel: http://www.roadtripamerica.com/ It's more work than you were looking for, but we've used these sites to plan many road trips and have found some great places to visit on them. SignatureJanet Wilder Bad spelling. Bad punctuation Good Friends. Good Life >> Maybe someone out here can help. >> [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > It's more work than you were looking for, but we've used these sites to > plan many road trips and have found some great places to visit on them. Well, I'm going to find and book mark those places this week. Thanks Janet Matt snipped > We have time to do this, but not unlimited time. We are not opposed to > buy books or software, but none of the travel packages I have looked at > do quite what I am asking. May not do just what you want but we use MS Street and Trips software. It has the ability to plan a route, then search for items of interest within a radius of the route. You can go out as much as 50 miles and also can select what points of interest you're looking for. Hugh >snipped >> We have time to do this, but not unlimited time. We are not opposed to [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >also can select what points of interest you're looking for. >Hugh It's a shame that the older versions of Map and Go from Delorme and AAA haven't been updated. I still have MNG7 and it has a feature of "Along The Way" that does exactly what the OP wants. Trouble is, the information about 5 or 6 years or more out of date. Still, it's a heck of a good start. SignatureFrank Tabor > snipped >> We have time to do this, but not unlimited time. We are not opposed [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > also can select what points of interest you're looking for. > Hugh Hugh, Both S&T and SA do this, but the capability of both leaves a great deal to be desired. Neither has a good POI filter and so you are left with having to do multiple searches and trying to compile the data externally. Matt >> snipped >> [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > having to do multiple searches and trying to compile the data externally. > Matt I have to agree. The filters are designed to give you commercial locations rather than real points of interest. Would be nice if someone wrote an add on to either of them with real points of interest. Hugh > Maybe someone out here can help. > [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > buy books or software, but none of the travel packages I have looked at > do quite what I am asking. My old AAA Map N' Go will search out points of interest within 10-20-50 miles of a route. Real easy to make a list of what to detour for. LZ >> Maybe someone out here can help. > > My old AAA Map N' Go will search out points of interest within 10-20-50 > miles of a route. Real easy to make a list of what to detour for. > LZ I have not had my hands on a functional copy of AAA-M&G for some time. Maybe I will try to scrounge a one to look at. Thanks LZ Matt > Maybe someone out here can help. > [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > buy books or software, but none of the travel packages I have looked at > do quite what I am asking. I've got a DeLorme GPS unit that plugs in to our laptop. With the packaged software, many nearby attractions are called to your attention. You can change the scale, and which features are shown. I don't know whether or not it would do everything you want, but it seems to provide a lot. It's the Delorme Earthmate GPS. It comes with street maps of the US and can be updated annually. -Raf SignatureMisifus- Rafael Seibert mailto:rafseibert@suddenlink.net blog: http://rafsrincon.blogspot.com/ Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rafiii home: http://www.rafandsioux.com >> Maybe someone out here can help. >> >>>> SNIP <<<<< [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > can be updated annually. > -Raf Raf, I appreciate the response, but I've been running SA attached to a GPS since version 3 or 4 (with one of my own GPS). If SA had better search capability both with filter and range, it could be good. Matt > Raf, > I appreciate the response, but I've been running SA attached to a GPS [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Matt bill horne (and others) can give you more "layers" from a Discovery site if you want more info to use with SA. LZ > Maybe someone out here can help. > [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > buy books or software, but none of the travel packages I have looked at > do quite what I am asking. Check out the Good Sam club travel planning service. See the Corn Palace in Mitchel SD. Spend 2 days in the badlands. Lock down your rolled up awning. I lost mine to the wind while on the road in South Dakota. A scary experience. Custer State Park hosts a buffalo roundup each year. It is worth seeing. The Needles are worth the drive. Crazy Horse gets better and better. Lead and Deadwood are worth the drive. You will go through Sturgis and Spearfish. Do drive Spearfish Canyon. Get out and walk, too. It's about 400 miles across South Dakota. I took us about 10 days to do it recently. How much time do you have? :) A note: Read the distances carefully on the little maps you get at Yellowstone. The distances are not small, but the map is. I nearly ran out of gas one time by not paying attention to this detail. The west is rather large. John Andrews, Knoxville, Tennessee >> Maybe someone out here can help. >> [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> attractions along a possible route. >> >>>> SNIP <<<<< Thanks John, > Check out the Good Sam club travel planning service. I have not even looked into Good Sam, but I think I will. > See the Corn Palace in Mitchel SD. Spend 2 days in the badlands. Lock > down your rolled up awning. I lost mine to the wind while on the road [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > It's about 400 miles across South Dakota. I took us about 10 days to do > it recently. How much time do you have? :) The plan is still developing, that is why I am doing research. At the moment it looks like a 9k+mile tour just as a loop to the west of us. > A note: Read the distances carefully on the little maps you get at > Yellowstone. The distances are not small, but the map is. I nearly ran > out of gas one time by not paying attention to this detail. The west is > rather large. Thanks for that note. > John Andrews, Knoxville, Tennessee >> Check out the Good Sam club travel planning service. > I have not even looked into Good Sam, but I think I will. Maybe it has improved but I tried it once years ago and was routed on a goat trail and had I followed their instructions would have ended up somewhere south of San Luis in Mexico. LZ |
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