Hot Rods How do you map out trips in the hot rod?

So, winter is here, which means its time to start laying out vacation trips for next year. We are not afraid put some miles on our coupe, but we really would prefer not to do our traveling on the interstate.

In the past, you could set up a Map Quest route without using the Interstate. You could type in the destination and the starting point, then check a preferred list of things to avoid. One of the choices used to be "interstates and toll roads" and it would lay out a route that had little or no interstates.
Then they did away with that, but you could choose to do a "scenic route" and that was almost as good as "no interstate". Now the choices are "shortest time" or "shortest distance", and both rather suck.

I could do the old fashioned way and drag out the State road maps and write down a detailed route, figure out the miles between stops, and all that stuff, but it sure takes some of the fun out of trying to add an attraction we may want to see. Its also a pretty time consuming project. That process also misses out on some good roads that are hard surface but are not state highways. Often some of those are a more direct road the other options, and most road maps do not give you those secondary road names.

So the question to those of you that do traveling in your hot rods, what are you using to lay out your trips these days? I'm looking for some suggestions. Gene

 

I seem to do either the get in, shut up and hang on banzai cross country trips where making miles to get to the destination in a set time is the issue or lately plan the trips according to where I want to make stops and what I might get to see and what I might get to photograph.

That means:
How many days do you have to get to ___________.
What nifty things are between home and there that you would consider stopping at?
How far do you plan to drive each day?
Are there specific places you want to spend each night?

A couple of years ago my wife and I went over to one of our favorite towns for the boat group I hang with's annual gathering at one of our favorite towns. We took the car at the last minute because the tow rig was having issues and after the weekend there partying with the pirates we headed around the Olympic Peninsula No itinerary except to stop and see what was interesting and enjoy the ride. We made it around to Ocean Shores and stayed in an older motel with a clean and quiet room and spent the next night in long beach in an older but remodeled motel. Crossed the Columbia to Astoria where we spent a lot longer in the Columbia River Maritime Museum which is super interesting and spent the night in Portland in an overrated motel next a freeway interchange. Headed home and stopped at Hood River to watch the wind surfers and beach hotties. crossed the river and hit a couple of wineries and made it on home. Only about 83 miles on 4 lane.

 

google maps has the option to avoid tolls and highways.

But you're still better off looking at a paper map, and spend some time looking up what's in the various towns along different routes.

 

I think using a paper map is the fun way to do it. To make it even more interesting, get your hands on a vintage road map (pre-Interstate) and use that (although once you have a route figured out, you will need to refer to a modern map to make sure the roads still go in the same places.) You can then go online and check for attractions along that route. Alternately, if you're an AAA member I believe they still have free booklets for each state that list things and places to see.

 

If I want my wife to enjoy the trip , which is what it’s all about when we are together,I use a gps,no probs and enjoy the view.
Rather than have her nose stuck in a map book looking out for the next turn then me getting pissed about having to go back to find the missed road.
On my own or with some mates then it’s a paper map,good sport when someone gets us lost plus there’s the carton of grog it costs them that night.

 

State maps and a road atlas. Plan it all out on the state maps,print out the route and clip it to the large road atlas.
I also do a "sights to see" search of each state and print those out as well as mark them on the state maps.

 

I use the DeLorme Missouri Atlas and Gazeteer, about 75 pages and 22"x 15 1/4" when folded out, topographical with site info and other details and info. I spend some pleasurable time looking for the most inhospitable terrain and least populated areas and then go explore them and sometimes hike them. I always find new and wonderful scenery, towns and sights. 'One of life's best pleasures for me.

 

I usually get onto map quest and maps for the route they suggest then expand from there by zooming in..Great for the Crosley but do that with all my cars, except the DD..But an exception was last Monday I went by Interstate with my S'box as I wanted to get a run in before weather broke..Although I had to run 75 to maintain some flow Traffic wasn't too heavy nor there be many a'oles..I lucked out.

 

I decide where I want to go and use my GPS. I'm not that nostalgic to go back to having shorthand descriptions of the route you need to look at while driving (just as bad as using your mobile) or finding a place to stop and consult the road atlas once you take a wrong turn (which you WILL). Don't know how your GPS would work in the US but here (Austria) the thing asks me whether I want to use toll roads which are 99% Autobahns. By choosing "no" I stay on the Bundesstraßen (read: federal roads) which are the scenic, twisty ones usually. Autobahns have their uses (when you want to get there quickly) but are not nice with the 3 on the tree which I still have on the car .

 

My grandson is a walking and talking road Atlas. He ask for a new Atlas each year for Christmas. He studies them, marks them up. He can quote most of the roads, where they start and end. We love road trips. Here's his { RULES }. No GPS, Never take an interstate, never eat fast food, and never stay in a big name motel. Mom and Pop places for gas, food, and Motels. The FUN is in the trip, not just the destination. I pulled the mill out of our Nomad this week for a well needed rebuild. So we can take alot more roadtrips. PS He loves it when we get lost! Ha Ha. Ron......

 

Gene, I too miss the old MapQuest choices.
There are a lot of books you can find with scenic routes of interest.
Here's some interesting websites
https://www.myscenicdrives.com/
https://scenicbyways.info/
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/byways/

Heres a good scenic map tutorial for google maps
https://techguylabs.com/episodes/1493/how-can-i-take-scenic-route-google-maps

 

Electronic nav aids are nice, no doubt about it - but are no substitute for analog navigation, especially in the boonies. As in paper map. No batteries required, software Wifee updates.

DeLorme Topo maps publishes their "Atlas Gazetteer" for every state, they are as the name implies topgraphic style. Where they are really nice is they show every single road in detail - right down to the county gravel and dirt track. State road maps don't have this. Stick an AirGuide (remember those?) in the windshield and have fun. If you want to generally head north, any road will do.

Then you can really get away from the teeming hordes in confidence. "Where does this road go?" Who knows, who cares, we're gonna find out! The best road trips aren't overly structured and organized, takes all the fun out of it. "We're scheduled to arrive in Murdo at 12:37, hurry up let's go!!" F that.

Plan on being at least somewhat self-sufficient when possible, hiking & camping gear is lightweight and doesn't take up very much room. Some extra drinking water, food and snacks, a tent, sleeping bags, pads, stove, portable shitter, etc., and anywhere can be home for a day or two.

 

Didn’t even know mapquest still existed. Like mentioned previously google maps or the Waze app will let you avoid interstate, tolls and more.

also nice is that they both are aware of road construction and closure. Here in the Midwest lately that can add 3 hours to a 3 hour drive. The flooding really did a. Number on the roads, damns and levees last year.

I know I postponed or canceled several trips this summer because of that.

 

Every state offers free paper maps and tourist guides. Google it. They will mail them to you no charge.

 

Rand McNally is good, but Universal Maps makes a better Atlas that has a lot of smaller roads on it that Mr McNally doesn't even know exist. I navigated by road atlas for years before I ever got my first GPS, and still carry a newer Rand McNally as well as a 15 or 20 year old Universal Maps atlas in the truck with me. The Universal Maps atlas is a bit harder to find, I can't remember now where I bought mine, some truck stop along the way. One thing I like about it better besides having more roads on it is the town and city index is printed on the same page as the map, no turning to the back of the book to find a city name then turn back and find it on the map.

 

I look up all the NAPA stores on the way and the shortest route to them.

 

Most of these maps highlight interesting places to visit. And after you get back home they are enjoyable to look at them and reminisce.

 

I have quite a collection now of 40s-60s maps. They're interesting....mostly because most of the roads are still the same roads. Not much has changed, except that some turned into Interstates.

It's always a good idea to know where you're going, when you use GPS. It's great for knowing where you are, and knowing how to get there, but it can also take you places you'd rather not go, so you need to know when to ignore it. Same with google maps---but with google maps, you can get real time info about what's going on. As long as there's a signal, which there isn't, in lots of places I end up going!

Also, the Gazetteer is neat, but not real useful for general navigating, I've found. You need to have maps at several different scales. Google maps is good for that because you can "zoom", but also bad because it's not so easy to figure out the scale you zoomed to (unless you look close, and think hard)

 

I use paper maps and GPS . If and when I get lost which I always do, I just use my GPS to the place I want to stop for the night. I almost always stay off interstates.

 

People ask me if I have a GPS, I usually respond with, "No, I have a M A P S." They kind of look at me a little goofy, like I've lost my mind.

I do have an old one that a friend gave me, I call it Ethel. It reminds me of this old couple I know, Ethel is always telling Jim which way to go every inch of the way!

My Ethel is the biggest source of argument in our house. I always have to tell her which way "I" want to go and it argues with me all the time! However, I do like the arrow that tells me which way to turn and how far 'til we get there.

 

Since I'm usually driving something that I can't hear much in anyways because it's so loud, I mute the sound on the GPS

 

Oh, I also like the speed down in the corner. My speed-o seems to be a couple slow.

 

I drove to the Lead Ain't Dead show in Dewey, OK. Some notes:

1. I tried to avoid the interstate, Google maps would reset and try to suck me back to the interstate.

2. Google maps and construction detours might not be coordinated - In Tulsa, OK, I drove thru the same spot 3 times...

3. Even taking secondary roads, I drove over 2 days before I was on a road that I had not driven in the last 10 years.

4. A 75 year old needs more restrooms and coffee breaks. Rural TX and OK have lost most of their small town gas stations and restaurants. The little towns have shut down. I ended up taking the interstate on the way home.

 

I'm going to disagree with you here, unless your goal is to just avoid computers/phones If your goal is to see towns and things along the way, I think using google maps is WAY better than a paper map. You can see all kinds of things on the maps, easily find auto parts stores, see where construction or road closures are, find ice cream shops, or whatever else you want to find. And give you an estimate of how long it will take, in case you want to arrive somewhere before sunset.

It may take some fun out of traveling, and take away some of the surprises if you like rolling into a town without knowing anything about it beforehand and exploring that way, but it can be quite handy.

When I travel, I usually take a look at google maps first thing in the morning before heading out, and then just start going and adjust as I see fit. If I get stuck or lost, I pull up google maps again. And if I'm in a big city where I don't want to get lost, I turn on navigation until I'm confident I know where I'm going. Or pull off the road and study the map a bit and memorize where I need to go.

 

First thing I go to when planning a trip is google maps, to get a good lay of the land.

Around here, if your trip involves getting out of So Cal, you're gonna have to use the interstates to do it, very few non-interstate hwy options. Even when they are non-interstate, such as hwy 101 running north/south, you still need to run about the same speeds anyway. If you can take 2 lane roads for any distance where you're at, you have a very different situation than around here. And when you have 200 - 500 miles of desert to get through to get to your destination that's not a bad thing.

 

@squirrel : oh don't get me wrong, I don't trust the thing blindly (we DO have shitholes in Europe, believe it or not) and I normally have a quick look at Google maps for orientation before I set off. I meant, I prefer it as a navigational tool to the papery stuff - did enough trips before we had GPS. Trying to navigate London (talk about shitholes) looking for these Jaguar scrap yards back in 95 springs to mind, fun it was not, lol.

 

3years ago , my wife and I made the 180 mile trip from West to Denison Tx. I know it doesn’t sound that far , but that’s the farthest this 52 Chevy truck has been from home in 40 years. Tired 350/350, 3.55 gears, July in Texas, no air, no spare, caution to the wind. Wore ear plugs much of the trip, wind and exhaust noise pretty annoying, but we made it and one of our wonderful memories!
Of course we had phones for backup but I printed off directions from Mapquest and wrote down all the towns we were going through on the way and used this as our primary guide.

 

What I don't like about using GPS is it tells you how to get there, it doesn't teach you how to navigate your way there.
( I think that made sense in a Yoda type of way).

 

I still will draw out a basic map on paper for almost anywhere I go. Trace the route on the back side for the ride home. But nobody else will be able to follow it. MapQuest was a joke and a 1/2... we used it for Scout trips and it became known as Get You Lost Quest. Phones are the way to go for point A-B navigation.