Technobabble

I got tired of the suction-cup GPS mount that came stock with my Garmin 205W. The GPS was exposed to the sun on the windshield and the temperatures where we’ve been this summer worried me that the unit might be getting too much heat. I went on-line and found a nifty little dash mount which I ordered from Amazon last week.

The mount attaches itself to the dash with an adhesive and its footprint is very small which allows us to put it almost anywhere there is a small vacant spot. I chose to attach it to the spot just above the On-Star panel (which we never use) in the SUV. This location is also convenient because it puts the GPS in closer proximity to the passenger if Damsel (or myself) need to assist with navigation.

Another plus to the dash mount is that the power cord can be coiled up and isn’t flopping around in the drivers visual field of regard. I kept the suction cup mount in case we need to use the GPS in Damsel’s Convertible or if we’re renting a truck or RV.

Click on the image to enlarge.

If I were to assess a five-star rating to the GARMIN nüvi 205W GPS unit that we took on our vacation, I would give it a 3½ star rating. Our vacation route took us a distance of over 700 miles, starting from Carson, California (where we picked up the 24 foot travel trailer).

Our first stop was in Buellton, north of Santa Barbara. After exiting US Highway 101, the GPS gave us flawless directions to our first waypoint. Yours truly, made a wrong turn off the highway, but the GPS recalculated and we were quickly on a bee line for the RV park.

The next morning we continued northbound on 101 to San Luis Obispo where we made a left turn to head over to the coastline at Morro Bay. I had the GPS programmed to take us to the RV park at Morro Dunes. When we got there, the GPS wanted me to overshoot the campground entrance by only a couple hundred yards, but it wasn’t exactly at the entrance like the night before. We pulled into the park and backed the trailer into our assigned spot.

The weather at the beach was cold. (Where is that global warming when you need it?) After walking around the area, Damsel decided she needed some sweatpants or something since all she had with her were dresses and shorts. “No problem,” I said, “we can look up shopping on the GPS.” I confidently loaded a shopping>sporting goods ‘point of interest’ into the destination queue and off we went.

We headed down a frontage road by State Route 1. The GPS kept telling us to turn left, which was impossible due to the seven-foot chain link fence between the frontage road and the highway. When we were finally able to go left, the GPS directed us into a housing tract and pronounced arriving at destination in front of a house on a cul de sac (*FROWN*).

It was at this point, Damsel says that I started arguing with the female voice – a habit that continued the rest of the vacation until I finally muted the bitch voice function. During the misguided adventure, we passed a surf shop and stopped there to get the garment for Damsel on our way back to the RV park.

The next morning, we went into town to get some things and to refuel. I used the map function just to know where the main drags were – they’re highlighted differently than side streets. That worked out pretty well – we got our stuff and fueled up all in the same place. Back at the campground, we hitched up the trailer and headed up SR 1 toward Big Sur, Carmel and Monterey. An Arduous haul with the rig, for sure, but the scenery is breathtaking and well worth the drive. The map in the GPS display showed the bends in the road before we got there – that was pretty cool.

Heading for the next RV park, in Aromas, California, near Hwy 101 again, the GPS got us to the wrong place – my fault – I entered the wrong address and it correctly took us there. When I entered the correct address, then it took us to the wrong place, about ¾ mile south of the real place it turns out. I called the RV park on the wireless and got verbal directions. I presume it’s an error in the map database since Google Earth also showed me the same (wrong) place.

To make a long story even longer, I could describe the rest of our drive in detail, but the GPS acted as advertised, guiding us to a supermarket, to get gas, to the next campground in Paso Robles, and the last day to our home in southwestern L.A. County.

Overall I’m pleased with the new toy. I will have to assume there are bugs in the database here and there, and plan accordingly when we take our next drive to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in mid-September.

Well, we’re not exactly Buzz Lightyear, but with our new Garmin nüvi GPS navigation system, we will be able to find our way around during some upcoming excursions. We will be going on our summer vacation soon, so we decided to get this system installed so we can both figure out how to use it.

Now that our retirement goal is in sight, we plan to be on the go a lot more when we do retire. But, that being said, we still have a couple of adventures left before we retire. One is the summer vacation coming up soon and the other is the GUN BLOGGER RENDEZVOUS in September. We don’t plan on getting lost for that one, for sure.

Speaking of GBR-IV, are you registered yet?