1st Road Trip from LA - Denver

[glc]

With a modern Android phone, I don't see a need for a separate GPS. Google Maps with navigation is every bit as capable as a Garmin, and easier to program with voice recognition. The only downside may be screen size.

(say) OK Google
(say) 1234 Main Street *or say* Walmart
(say) Take me there

[landmariner]

With a modern Android phone, I don't see a need for a separate GPS. Google Maps with navigation is every bit as capable as a Garmin, and easier to program with voice recognition. The only downside may be screen size.

(say) OK Google
(say) 1234 Main Street *or say* Walmart
(say) Take me there

Signal, Signal, Signal. Garmin GPS is better at pulling in a signal than cell phone data in many parts of the country. And the larger screen is gentler on old eyes ;) I absolutely road trip with BOTH!

[glc]

There is no difference in getting the GPS signal, and if you are going into an area with no cell coverage you can preload offline maps.

My Android tablet takes care of the screen size issue.

[landmariner]

There is no difference in getting the GPS signal, and if you are going into an area with no cell coverage you can preload offline maps.

My Android tablet takes care of the screen size issue.

My android phone doesn't do as well on GPS as my Garmin and my tablet is WiFi only. I find it is next to impossible to download map with sufficient resolution to substitute for a good GPS unit. I do try to download European city and some countryside maps to my android tablet but seldom get the resolution I want for all the areas of a city I might be in... so rely upon Paper Maps!!!

P.S. There are voice-activated and -commanded Garmin units these days.

[DonnaR57]

Data. Data. Data. Using Google Maps, or iMaps, on the phone uses data. If you get by with a small, minimum plan, you may go over your data allowance if you rely completely on the phone. With a Garmin or other separate GPS unit, there's no data involved. And like has been suggested, the screen is bigger. :-)


Donna

[landmariner]

I think the android phone GPS can work in a reduced manner without data or WiFi, but its navigational capabilities are greatly diminished in resolution and time-delay. And data connectivity in places like the northern Wyoming mountains is non-existent. Nonetheless, all part of a modern road tripping tool set.

Google Maps provides me with GPS lat/lon coordinates that can be entered into my Garmin and show me the way, very helpful for both end-points and way-points.

[Rick Quinn]

I don't think there's a right or wrong answer here. People should use whatever device they're most comfortable with, whatever makes the most sense for their circumstances. The watchword is redundancy: always carry paper maps as a backup! (That advice is repeated frequently on this forum; anybody who's new to road tripping should take it very seriously.)

Rick

[nykogut]

Thanks to all. This ended up in another way that what I was expecting but I will take your advice seriously with the paper maps!

Any other itinerary suggestions would be welcome!

[Southwest Dave]

I would recommend you decide on the basic stuff first, like if you want to do the trip to Denver, or a loop out of Vegas and what your personal 'must see's' are as all trips are unique and this one is yours ! Once you have finalised that part we can certainly help fill in the blanks and answer any further questions. There are no bad choices, just lots of great options so follow your gut feeling.

[landmariner]

In looking at a road trip focused on Utah, Colorado and Northern Arizona, you have about 3 gateway cities depending upon your interests, airline flight options and rental car pricing at the airports in Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Denver. Weather might be another constraint in planning a trip from any of those three cities if for no other reason than some of the areas you would want to visit may not be practical due to elevations that become very cold even in early November.

For example, Utah Route 12 is a beautiful, scenic drive but elevations bring cold weather early and many hotels and restaurants shut down as winter approaches. For historical weather temps and conditions this site can be very useful (search for Escalante, Utah and then selection Historical Averages): http://www.intellicast.com/Local/History.aspx?month=11
On the other hand, if you like the area there is so much to see and do that another trip can be planned.

Hofbrauhaus in Las Vegas was better than expected. We were there on an uncrowded afternoon in mid-October which was nice. From Las Vegas there is a nice scenic drive to the Valley of Fire State Park.

There are a multitude of sights in the region: Zion National Park (NP), Bryce Canyon NP, Capitol Reef NP, Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Mesa Verde NP, Monument Valley, Lake Powell & Glen Canyon Damn, Navajo Bridge, Grand Canyon South Rim (North Rim closes in October), and more.

Many people acquire a USA or regional map (e.g., Indian Country Guide Map covers New Mexico; Arizona; Colorado; Utah) and stick pins or magic marker dots to help lay out a draft itinerary. Another option is using Google Maps and saving "favorites" such as the green "Want to Go" for your priorities and then plotting out a road plan.