My two older kids and I are headed from NC to Mississippi on Thursday for my nephew's wedding. Does anybody know a good interstate mapping service online?
I've used a combo of maps.google.com and an atlas that costs $20 bucks for all of my trips. An road atlas is a nice thing to have in the long run. But NC to MS ain't bad at all. Maps.google.com should be fine, and just zoom in and print out the road changes you need to make and there won't be any problems.
A couple years ago, I used Mapquest when I drove from Houston to Atlanta.. Worked great and was easy to use.. I don't know how it is now though, however.
Mapquest is a little outdated and hard to read sometimes. Any time I take a trip, I use Google Maps. It's far superior to Mapquest.
Until very recently, Yahoo maps didn't know that US287 existed, so if you were planning a trip to Amarillo from Dallas, for example, it'd send you through Oklahoma City. So, I wouldn't recommend them.
I've noticed that each different online program will give you different times for the exact same trips...sometimes vastly different times. I tested it out once and one was consistently the best time-wise....but I can't remember which!
Well, when you're making a trip like Giddyup is, from NC to MS and all, that's a pretty damn long trip. I've made many like that and much longer. So you'll have to equate time to stop for gas, time to eat, and time to pee/poop. All of that varies a lot, and so does your average speed. Going for 10 hours at 80 and going for 10 hours at 70 makes a real difference in time. So just saying the time thing is a nice estimate, but you can give or take time a lot depending upon your personal habits.
I agree...however, I'd be curious to see how much of a difference two non-abnormal (i.e. - not 50 vs. 110) drivers would do. I've done plenty of long distance trips in my day (Houston to Pihladelphia, Houston to Colorado and back, Houston to Grand Canyon, Houston to Yellowstone), and inevitably I'll go faster than a bunch of people, only to have to pass them again later after I make a stop and vice-versa. Also, I think those mapping programs factor in stops, etc....in either case, I know I used one once as a gauge - just a guesstimate on timing on a long trip and it was way off.
