Navigation Tips for Your Summer RV Vacation

Navigation is an art. RVers sense that some colleagues are better at this art than others. Fine artists of navigation arrive at their destinations in good spirits with a "canvas" showing correct turns. So what makes RVers fine art navigators? They do their homework before hitting the road, know how to read and apply a map, and observe cockpit courtesy.

Suppose they want to see a Buffalo Bill museum on their travels in the West. First, they find the address of the museum. They may ask a friend; call the reference librarian of their local library; consult tour books from a travel/motor or RV club, travel guides at bookstores, and destination articles from RV magazines; or check the Internet. Then they may use a global positioning system (GPS), a customized route planner from their favorite travel/motor club, an Internet mapping Web site such as MapQuest (www.mapquest.com), or a paper road map to guide them.

If they use a mapping Web site, they fill in the museum's address to get a map and directions; then they print them out to use on the road. Those who take laptops on the road can get directions as they travel.

If our fine art navigators use a paper road map, they find the destination city (Cody, Wyoming, in our example), study the map to determine their route, then highlight the route with a marker.

To find a nearby campground, they look in a campground directory under listings for Cody, Wyoming. It's a simple matter for them to follow the directory's clear, specific directions to the campground they have selected.

Before they get behind the wheel, the drivers write down the route numbers with the names of the main towns that they'll go through en route to their destination that day. They either hand these to the person riding in the front passenger seat (the navigator seat) or tape them where they can see them easily as they drive.

Fine art navigators who are passengers go over the day's route with the driver. The highlighted route on the map helps them relate where they are on the road with where they are on the map.

Now our fine art navigators are ready for the road.

While traveling they look for overhead route signs that match their highlighted route. Route numbers on highway signs generally match the same-shaped symbols as those on the map. They refer to the map's legend, a small box of printed information, when they have questions about the map's symbols.

Fine artists of navigation know that

--Route signs at the side of the road display the number of the route they are on at the moment.

--Mile markers on interstate highways state the number of miles from or to the border of the state (or county in some states). They also help travelers determine the number of miles to the next exit or rest area.

--Interstate highways are numbered with one or two digits. Odd-numbered interstates run north and south, while even-numbered ones run east and west. When interstates join with a beltway around a city, the number temporarily becomes three digits.

--Two main numbering systems exist for interstate interchange exits.

   (1) The consecutive numbering system starts at the most western or southern point within a state with exit #1. The next exit is #2 and so on.

   (2) The milepost numbering system refers to those short green signs on the roadside. Placed at one-mile intervals, they begin at the most western or southern point in that state. If the first interchange exit is between mileposts 2.0 and 3.0, the interchange exit is #2. This system helps travelers determine how many miles to a particular interchange.

--California uses a post mile system in which miles are numbered within counties rather than within the whole state. It does not have interstate interchange numbers.

Fine art navigators are savvy enough to get a map (free at welcome centers) for each state they travel through because it gives more detail than most atlases.

By experience, they have learned that

--It sometimes helps to turn the map upside down when going from north to south to read where landmarks are in relation to the road.

--They should keep a magnifying glass handy for map reading.

--They shouldn't panic when lost. They pull over at a safe place and look at the map or ask directions at a fuel station or from a local resident.

As for arriving in good spirits, the fine artist navigator/driver has patience with both traffic and passengers, while the fine artist navigator/passenger helps look for routes and resists temptations to tell the driver when to brake.

A GPS may be the ultimate fine artist of navigation. But then, where would the adventure lie for the RV navigator?