Paul
07-29-2007, 07:17 PM
I got back about a week ago from my trip. I left Vegas, went through Yosemite, up to Tahoe, then back to Vegas. I loved having the GPS along on the trip. One; I always knew where to find gas, and two; it kept me from sleeping on the side of the road one of the nights!!
We pulled into Bridgeport, CA at 8:30pm to find out all the motels were booked solid. I got on the trusty GPS and brought up hotel/motels along our route. Because the GPS gives you phone #'s, I began calling hotels. Everything was full all the way up to Carson City 90 minutes away. I reserved the last room available by phone. We had to ride another 90 miles at night on windy roads (turns out my tail light had burned out), and nearly hit 1 of 5 dear that was crossing the road. If it weren't for the GPS, we would have been riding all night to find nothing but full hotels. Booking the last hotel before we left Bridgeport, made the price of the GPS worth every penny.
On a side note: Apparantly in some eyes, there is a certain level of "roughing it" that is required to be a "real biker".
I started talking to "hard core" Harley riders I know, in a local bar. They have always resisted the non HD jabs about my VTX. But they felt it necessary to tell me I wasn't "a real biker" because I used a GPS. They had some pretty lame drunk arguments. They didn't have any (good) answers when I asked them if they were ever worried about finding a gas station in time. They of course said yes, several times. I told them that in 7 days of riding, I didn't have to worry about running out of gas once. Keep in mind, in northern NV and parts of CA, you can go 100 miles plus without seeing a gas station. Always good to know if I have to top of at a given location, or if I can wait until further down the road. This allowed me to enjoy the ride much more. Further I told them that they could put whatever label on me they like. I enjoyed having the GPS, and I enjoyed my ride. If we were to ever meet on the road and you didn't want to ride with me because I have GPS, it certainly won't hurt my feelings, and I would be just as happy to continue my ride alone.
I can certainly survive without a GPS. My longest trip was 5 weeks just followig my nose, and that was without the GPS (before they were even available). But given a choice, I vote take the GPS.
We pulled into Bridgeport, CA at 8:30pm to find out all the motels were booked solid. I got on the trusty GPS and brought up hotel/motels along our route. Because the GPS gives you phone #'s, I began calling hotels. Everything was full all the way up to Carson City 90 minutes away. I reserved the last room available by phone. We had to ride another 90 miles at night on windy roads (turns out my tail light had burned out), and nearly hit 1 of 5 dear that was crossing the road. If it weren't for the GPS, we would have been riding all night to find nothing but full hotels. Booking the last hotel before we left Bridgeport, made the price of the GPS worth every penny.
On a side note: Apparantly in some eyes, there is a certain level of "roughing it" that is required to be a "real biker".
I started talking to "hard core" Harley riders I know, in a local bar. They have always resisted the non HD jabs about my VTX. But they felt it necessary to tell me I wasn't "a real biker" because I used a GPS. They had some pretty lame drunk arguments. They didn't have any (good) answers when I asked them if they were ever worried about finding a gas station in time. They of course said yes, several times. I told them that in 7 days of riding, I didn't have to worry about running out of gas once. Keep in mind, in northern NV and parts of CA, you can go 100 miles plus without seeing a gas station. Always good to know if I have to top of at a given location, or if I can wait until further down the road. This allowed me to enjoy the ride much more. Further I told them that they could put whatever label on me they like. I enjoyed having the GPS, and I enjoyed my ride. If we were to ever meet on the road and you didn't want to ride with me because I have GPS, it certainly won't hurt my feelings, and I would be just as happy to continue my ride alone.
I can certainly survive without a GPS. My longest trip was 5 weeks just followig my nose, and that was without the GPS (before they were even available). But given a choice, I vote take the GPS.