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As you know by now I love to drive! I have an internal compass that is wonderful and my driving record speaks for itself. My wife on the other hand is not the lover of the road that I am. She has certain locations she goes daily and if you get outside those she wants her Mapquest maps beside her when she leaves the house. I am a man, we don't ask for Map Quest driving directions, just give us the address and our minds hold all the maps we need (wouldn't that be nice!).
The reality is that in the US today the DOT seems to make it a hobby to change the roads in our cities just to make it difficult for us, as the driver. We don't have the plans of what they intend to do ahead of time… Oh wait, we may not have future knowledge but we do have up to date Mapquest roadmaps available to us online.
The old days of knowing your specific destination, pulling out the old atlas or going to the DMV for maps to plan a nice day of travel are long gone. Now we as a society are in more of a hurry and have technology available with Map Quest that we could not even fathom in the past. Mapquest has even improved from it's early days in that you can now put in multiple destination addresses and get Mapquest driving directions from one to the other all in one place, which my wife LOVES to get from store to store as quickly as possible!
Yahoo maps is a good alternative, it just does not have the ring to it and for some reason she does not think of it when she goes to the computer. Google maps are improving on their views from the street. It always is fascinating to me to see how they have images of the street or drive from the driver's point of view. By this I mean they literally show you a picture of what you would see if you were standing at the intersection and did a 360 degree turn from almost any address in the USA. Did not see this on Mapquest yet.
My favorite part of Mapquest though is how versatile it is for men and women. As I said my wife loves the maps. By this I mean she loves to look at the bird's eye view of the roadmaps to "see" what streets or highways she will take on her route. My son on the other hand prefers the written route that tells him exact distances between the turns he is to take. I am the family planner of trips and like the Mapquest's multiple location feature and the traffic views as well as the directory of Rest Stops and exits for the road trips I hold so dear.
While all of the maps from Yahoo Maps, Google Maps, and Map Quest have their pros and cons, I consistently find myself and my family returning to Mapquest for our mapping needs. Maybe it is the fact that Mapquest was the first, or maybe it is they are the best known, or maybe it just flows off the fingers better for me, but I know that Mapquest is something that is always at my wife's fingertips when she is ready to hit the stores, or my son's when he is going out to the popular teen destinations, and yes even myself when I am preparing for those road trips to feel the wind in my hair, and see the sights that the US has to offer for each of our driving directions needs.
Who needs expensive GPS when you can get the same spoken turn by turn Map Quest driving directions with Map Quest? Map Quest Navigator makes your phone a GPS system and lets you find places anywhere in the US; complete with voice-guided directions. Driving directions have never been easier to find and you don't need any special devices, just your web enabled phone to access Mapquest. You can even receive phone calls without stopping your Mapquest directions on some phone models. Map Quest Navigator is powered by the latest GPS technology so you know you will arrive at you destination quickly and with ease. One thing that I find especially interesting about Mapquest is that users of Yahoo most often search for "Yahoo Map Quest directions" or "Google Mapquest directions Google Maps"! Go figure :)
To be extra safe when reading printed directions like ones from Mapquest or other sources make sure you become familiar with Map Quest directions before you head out. Becoming familiar with where you're going will lessen the possibility for Mapquest mistakes and the amount of time you spend looking at your Map Quest directions and not at the road. Travel with another person if possible and allow them dictate the next move prescribed by Mapquest so you can keep your eyes on the road.
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