Have you ever seen those disclaimers, “Don’t do this at home” or “this was done with trained drivers on a closed coarse.” ? These are my disclaimers. Don’t try to follow us down those roads less traveled without a mechanically sound vehicle, a full tank of gas and a quality GPS system. A cooler with drinks and snacks is also a good idea. You can see our set-up at left. We use a laptop computer with 2007 DeLorme Street Atlas software installed. I have tried a couple others but found this to be the best for our use; particularly the GPS features. We use the DeLorme GPS unit on the dashboard. It is about the size of a half deck of cards. You can see the edge of it just to the left of the screen on the dashboard. It is yellow. This software will zoom in enough to see all the included streets and their names. We have found streets that were nothing more than a slight depression across a field and on some occasions streets, and I use the term loosely, that are closed or no longer drivable. That is when I appreciate the 4 wheel drive and tight turning radius of my Jeep. As you can see, I have the opened laptop propped up in front of the shift levers on the console and leaning against the dashboard. I have velcro tape installed along the lower edge of the laptop to correspond to the other side of the velcro mounted on the console. This keeps the unit from sliding. The only real problem with this setup is that the screen covers the air vents and the lower portion covers the heat and A/C controls. I have to lean the unit back toward me to get to the controls. Every car will be different so you will have to test out the best positioning for you. I think a column shift would allow the keyboard to sit down on the console and only the screen would extend up. I will be thinking about this option on the next vehicle.

We didn’t realize how much we relied on the GPS until we forgot it one long weekend. We were at the mercy of torn folded maps and missing street signs. There is a loss of the feeling of security driving down a road that keeps getting narrower and less improved when you don’t know how far it is to the next county road or highway. You start getting that “Deliverance” feeling. This feeling is multiplied 10 times if it is getting dark or your gas tank is getting low! It is also nice to be able to go to the route tab and map a trip from where you are, noted as Current GPS position to “Home”. It almost instantly shows the distance and time to get home from where you are and the roads to take. In my next entry, I will describe the trip we took without it.

I have not had any experience with the new factory GPS systems but I suspect I would like the convenience of the factory installation and dash mounted screen but I don’t know if I would be satisfied without the large screen to see the broader picture of our road options and directions.