10/04/2025
O.
M.
G.
75 minutes into a half hour drive and I finally pulled over to recombobulate and de-stress.
I have 2 GPS - Google maps on my phone which knows current road closures but assumes I'm driving a car, and a Garmin for RVs that doesn't know those but knows roads or hazards I can't drive (weight, size, propane tank size, too sharp turns etc).
First 20 minutes or so are great - I'm 12 minutes away. Then there's a sign on the interstate saying the exit/highway I need to take it closed due to fallen rocks, use an alternate route. So I pass that exit to take the next one like Google says. That's when it gets fun. I'm downtown, like, traffic, small roads, cars parked on the side of my wide-ass vehicle. In any case, an RV didn't belong on the road I was on. But I took it a few miles since both GPSes agreed to. Until they didn't. Garmin had me taking a left at an intersection, Google had me taking a sharp right up some hilly, dinky road that didn't look like it'd fit an RV. I usually default to the Garmin since even if it's slower, it's aware of things Google might not be, like a low bridge or a non-negotiable for trucks turn.
It routes me in a circle and it becomes clear that all Garmin is trying to take me back to the interstate to the closed highway, so now I need to follow Google, which is still insisting that I take the dinky road it originally wanted me to. So I pull over, and it doesn't look like I have many other options. Well, there was one, but that road looked even less RV-friendly - like I wasn't even sure I'd fit the turn onto it in one try (coming from a highway). So I took the Google option.
As expected, it was about 14-15 feet wide (I'm 8.5 which so I was well over the centerline) and full of excitement. The most quickly obvious being every car that I encountered made me pull to the side of the road so I wasn't blocking half their lane. There were no shoulders, and usually a drop off right next to the road. Meanwhile, Garmin is screaming at me trying to get me to turn around. Clearly it knows I shouldn't be taking this road.
Eventually Google wants me to turn off the dinky road, but now Garmin has conceded I'm taking it. Right before the turn Google wants me to take, I see the sign for the 9' 1" bridge that way. I'm glad I stopped listening to Google before stripping off the top 3 feet of my RV. The adventure moves forward unscathed.
So I'm slowly taking this road, Google says cool, and Garmin just gave up and says RV accessibility unknown, I'm on my own. And then there's the no trucks ahead, non-negotiable turn sign. Now, I wasn't particularly interested in finding out how long trucks have to be before they can't make the turn, so I took the next turn I could despite neither GPS wanting that.
Turns out that was the right choice. I had to take another small road a few miles, but both GPSes started agreeing and now I'm safely in an empty parking lot waiting for checkin time at the RV park.
