RV Life Trip Wizzard and Similar Apps

[ADOR]

We have been RVing for 10 years now and made 3 trips to Canada and few cross
Country trips all the way to East Coast. We have always used Regular Car GPS (no RV option), with phone GPS and Wayz as back up. So far, we have been lucky and have never encountered any problems with our routes.

We will be heading out this June once again, going to Vancouver, BC. Leaving Las Vegas, First stop is Trouutdale, OR. Then Vancouver, BC. Then to Olympic National Park in WA. Then to Yosemite National Park. When I plugged in my stops in Google Map, it gave me some Highways that I am not familiar with.

I subscribed one year with RV Life Trip
Wizard back in 2017. To be honest, I paid for a year subscription. But I did not find the App to be user friendly. This was back in 2017.

I would like to be able to specifically say Im using RV, and plug
In the Height, etc.

What would you recommend? Try RV Life Trip Wizard App
Again? Any other user friendly App? Or just buy RV specific Garmin GPS? Concerned about regular GPS sending me to routes that are NOT RV safe/friendly.


ANY SUGGESTIONS ON MY TRAVEL DESTINATIONS ROUTE?

Thanks in advance.

 

[16ACE27]

IMHO, the RV Life Trip Wizard on the desktop is great for researching and planning trips, BUT the APP as a trip guide/GPS is still not ready for prime time.

You've really got to be careful or the APP will not follow the route you planned and saved. It waaaay overestimates the time required to travel. And that's just the start of its faults. When I traveled with the APP I always had my Garmin RV GPS and Google Maps running as backups: neither one of those are perfect either.

 

[SGilbert]

I like RV Life Pro. Especially so after paying and having a disastrous time with Sygic. (Totally deleted it and ate the loss as they ignored all pleas for help)

 

[ducksface]

How did sygic fail?
Except for telling me the speed limit of every road crossing an overpass I'm on, sygic truck has been flawless.

I do not use any trip planner.
Did you mean sygic trip planner(or whatever it's called)?

 

[Desmo888]

I plan trips on RVLTW, use a commercial GPS (Overdryve Pro II) driving, and use my mobile phone as back up. Seems to work ok that way, never been lost or put on an unsafe road (except for Yukon Territory and AK - ha.). I am rarely concerned with how fast I get somewhere and prefer to pass through small towns. So, as long as I am not back tracking or placed on unsafe paths, I am usually good with a senic route.

 

[ducksface]

As above. No particular hurry, little scheduling ever.
If there's a business route we take it.
That did not work out well in Nashville as it was Griswold story telling quality.
But Detroit was ok(who'd a thunk?)

We have since kept it to smaller towns.
We have seen the largest frying pan in a certain state, found ourselves at the annual VFD streetparty in a town of 500, found our doppelganger in toothless town AR, picked up the rarest Crazy Daisy corningware piece at a permanent yard sale in this-used-to-be-a-town NB, stayed for free (upon asking at the only gas station) in a municipal park where the mayors wife brought us plated food....

 

[ADOR]

I am fine with scenic highways as well. Im just concerned about HEIGHT Restrictions, 2 lane Highways that are not safe for RVs (winding Roads). I got worried about a message from a Campground’s website near Yosemite National Park specifically saying NOT TO USE specific Highway going to their place as that Highway is steep, winding roads and is BEST for small vehicles ONLY. Those kind of roads I think “maybe avoided” by using certain App and entering your type of vehicle and Height. Im not concerned about Speed Limit as I drive slow anyway, especially pulling a Jeep.


For example, I was using a Regular Garmin GPS in 2017, going to Washington, DC. We still had our 32ft Class C. The GPS guided me to a residential area around DC. There were numerous low hanging residential power lines that crossed from one end of the street to the other. I almost have a heart attack while driving under those power lines.

 

[EA37TS]

I use Trip Wizard for planning and estimating and then create the trip in my Garmin RV GPS. Both allow configuration of the DV’s characteristics.

See this thread

https://www.thorforums.com/forums/f44/thank-you-garmin-31791.html

 

[WhatnxtRV]

A few spots to look at coming from Vancouver BC to Washington:
1. Bayview State Park. About 45 minutes South of the boarder.

2. Deception Pass State Park. About an hour 15 minutes from the boarder.

3. Ft. Casey State Park. About an hour and a half from the boarder.



Any of the Washington State Parks will require a "Discovery Pass" ($10 a day or $30 for the year) to enter and park. If you make camping reservations, the Pass is included in your camping fee. Olympic Park is federal and requires a different pass.



You can look all of these up online.


If you are going to the Olympic Peninsula, there is a ferry from Coupville to Pt Townsend that you can take. It is right next to Ft. Casey campground. Make reservations online at Washington State Ferries. There are also ferries at Edmonds and Seattle that will get you to the peninsula. Or, you can drive around by way of Tacoma. My preference (and to save time) would be Coupville Ferry.



From Pt Towsend, there is Ft Warden (the movie Officer and a Gentleman was filmed there) or Ft Flaggler. All three forts are great for camping, hiking on the beach and looking at the old gun in-placements that protected the waterways to Seattle. Make reservations early as all of them are popular. Once at Pt Townsend, it is a couple of hour drive to Pt Angeles and the Olympic Peninsula. If you are interested, there is a ferry from Pt Angeles that can take you to Victoria BC. Docks right in the harbor so you can walk-on.



Enjoy.

 

[CactusJuice]

I like RV life for the campground info. They do not "steer" that I can detect and will show even the most out of the way places. The reviews though are the best thing. They often have pictures and campers telling you about specific sites. It's useful info especially when planning stays in public campgrounds. I don't use the routing on these apps much other than the general direction preferring the byways to the highways.

 

[SGilbert]

How did sygic fail?
Except for telling me the speed limit of every road crossing an overpass I'm on, sygic truck has been flawless.

I do not use any trip planner.
Did you mean sygic trip planner(or whatever it's called)?

This is what I sent to them and another and another from Mid January to the end of January this year:

"Problem! I bought Lifetime Sygic GPS Truck & Caravan (Truck North America) Order #: 24199114
1) It seems to work on iPhone, but only says to finish setup for CarPlay.
2) If I go to Menu-Store-all my licenses, there is none!
3) If I go to menu-Store-Restore, it says Unable to restore
4) I let my son install on his Android, and his also says the same as 2&3
5) Your instructions for full reinstall is only for Android.
HOW do I get back to whole?
For the $ I paid, do I have 'Premium' or not? Your Store says RV Premium + CarPlay is $89.99. Do I have to pay more for CarPlay???
HELP!! Otherwise, this is a scam & I wish a refund!"

I got a notification (not a message to me) that Sygic now works with CarPlay. Went to the car, fired it up, and lo & behold---It still will not work!

Removed. Reinstalled & thoroughly setup. Tried in car. Still no good.
If it will not work with Apple Carplay, it is totally worthless to me!

Deleted again--for good! Totally not worth the aggravation and no support at all!

 

[MJC68]

We use RV Parky to plan trips. As the name implies the app gives you places along your route where you can "park" (camp) with your rig. We also use it to plan RV friendly gas stops. Use the satellite feature to determine access to the pumps and ease of in & out.