GPS Article on RoadTripAmerica.com

Road Trip America recently featured my GPS article "How to Choose the Right GPS System". If you are considering the purchase or rental of a GPS receiver, hopefully this article can be of benefit to you.

Chicago

Our Chicago 2006 trip was a blast. We ate at Ed Debevic's, visited the Museum Science & Industry, the Field Museum, and visited with Family and friends. If you visit the Museum of Science & Industry, be sure bring an extra $5.00 to make your own Gravitron at the ToyMaker 3000. This neat display has you follow along the assembly process as your customized toy is being built.

The GPS came in very handy. Navigating was a breeze; however, we did learn a few things about GPS receivers on this trip.
1) The GPS receiver didn't really like the business district of Chicago. It seemed to get "lost" in the tall buildings.
2) The "Shortest Distance" option should probably be avoided in densely populated cities. Not only did it take us to our destination via city streets, it took us into some areas of town we didn't originally intend to visit.

Road Trip Planner

If you are looking to take a road trip that is little longer than your average week long trip, you should read Live Your Road Trip Dream. Live Your Road Trip Dream is a how-to-guide that includes step-by-step information on planning the trip you've always wanted to take, but didn't know how to make a reality. Learn how to take an extended trip for the cost of staying home, written by Carol and Phil White. You can find out more information at http://www.roadtripdream.com.

San Diego Zoo

I just got back from a business trip to San Diego, CA. While I was there, I had the opportunity to see the San Diego Zoo (check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego_Zoo for more info). Even if there were no animals in the park, the botanical displays alone would be worth seeing. Get there early, the zoo is big and takes time to get around.

Surfing in the heartland

Might be a little bland, but my start page has been www.google.com for years. Recently, I started using the google "Personalize Your Homepage" option. Google allows you to customize your google view. For example, maybe you want to maintain your "to-do list", know the current weather, or see the current traffic situation in your area. Check it out!

Cape San Blas, FL - 2006

Well the big summer trip came and went. I was excited to bring my kids to a place that I had enjoyed going to when I was their age. I was also very excited to attend the wedding of a really close friend who was getting married on the cape.

My wife and I were concerned about the length of the trip. The drive was going to take 13-15 hours (depending on the online map service used for estimating). We decided to do the trip in one shot. The night before the trip, I loaded the SUV, set up the kid's entertainment center (DVD players, power inverter, and the kid's game cube), and attempted to sleep as much as I could before our early AM departure.

We were simply amazed at how easy the drive was!

We rented an amazing condo while we were on the cape (see picture above). The condo community served as the perfect place for a beach wedding and family vacation. What a great time!

The return trip was also easy. On the way back we actually knocked an hour off the trip by choosing a better route. We also decided to start back a little later (8:30 AM vs 5:00 AM).