Throwback Thursday: Maggie Magellan

"You know your driving is bad when the GPS says 'After 300 feet, stop and let me out!"

In last weeks Throwback Thursday, I shared an old post from our personal blog about the challenges we experienced getting to England in the Fall of 2005. Today's Throwback is an entry made right after we got home from that trip.  It's interesting to read this 12 1/2 years later and put into perspective how far we've come with navigational technology. 

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Nellie is the name I gave to the GPS navigational system built into Lana's mini-van. I loved listening to "Nellie-the navigator" guide us through the maze of round-a-bouts, in her British accent. I miss hearing (in a British accent): "Your route is being calculated" and "Prepare to turn right at the next exit".

I miss Nellie so much I went shopping for a navigational system of our own when we returned home. As luck would have it, Costco was selling the Magellan 360 Roadmate, which is a portable GPS navigational system that you plug into your cigarette lighter and attach (with a suction cup) to the windshield. I just got it a couple of days ago, and am enjoying getting to know this new navigation system..."Maggie Magellan", a poor (but good looking and smart) cousin to Nellie. I particularly like the lighted panel feature, which makes it really easy to keep track of upcoming turns during night driving.

When we were in England, our son-in-law, Rob, and I spent part of an evening shopping online for a new Ford Five-hundred, which is the car I would like to get someday. It is all-wheel drive, has a large trunk for my real estate signs, and sits a little higher than most cars which would make getting in and out easier for Max (and me too, of course). If anyone is Christmas shopping for us, I do like the "silver birch" exterior color. :-)

On the Ford Five-hundred, the built-in navigation systems are listed at $1995 as an add-on! I blinked hard at that... and am now appreciating the much less expensive portable system I bought at Costco. The other great thing about the portable system is that it can be moved from car to car... or, in our case, car-to-van. Sometimes we travel in the van and sometimes we take the car on trips. With the cost of fuel now, we're inclined to take the car (1999 Mitsubishi Galant) on trips these days. It gets just about twice the mileage as the van and is quite comfortable. Of course, we can't take as much stuff with us or crawl in the back and take a real nap, like in the van. Oh well, compromises and sacrifices must be made in the name of being environmentally and financially responsible.

I've been testing Maggie around town and am looking forward to seeing how she performs on a real road trip. Stay tuned for that report in the future. Oh... and I programmed Maggie to speak with a British accent too. How cool is that?

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Follow-up:
Turns out we did buy the 2005 model of the Ford Five-hundred shortly after we returned home.  We loved it so much we ended up buying another one in 2008.  I'm still driving the second version.  I've thought about replacing it but it still looks good and running like a charm. 

Also, I still use a portable version of a GPS, which I love for moving from car to van and vice versa.  I  don't put it in the window anymore, however, because I had one (literally) fry from the sun while traveling through the desert in Arizona.   I absolutely love how the GPS systems these days makes traveling solo so much easier, especially navigating through unfamiliar high traffic areas.  I always know how far my exit is and which lan to be in. 

As a side note:
I remember how untrusting Max first was of the GPS system.  Max was a scientist.  He wanted a map.  He wanted to do his own research about the proper route to our destination.  He was a map guy.  He did learn to trust the GPS but he still liked his maps.  I actually like maps too, but only to give me perspective... not to use while I am driving.