OK. So after much frustration, I have determined that the Garmin Basecamp is as useless as my mother in law. Most normal people use Google maps to plan a route or see where stuff is, primarily because Google has done a masterful job brainwashing us into saying "Google it" every time we have a question. I was able to use Google Maps, Google Earth, and Basecamp for frustration free route programming. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but it's less work than trying to plan a truly custom route in Basecamp.
So I wanted to be able to plan my route in Google Maps because it has the greatest feature ever developed for route planners......":drag to change route" feature. This is a must if you live in places like I do where you need to go through a major metropolitan area with a trailer or bypassing roads that do not allow specific types of vehicles such as tractor trailers or vehicles over 9000 lbs.
Here is how I was able to transfer Google map routes into Google Earth; Basecamp; and then into my Nuvi 1490. If you know a better way, let the world know.
1. Use the Google maps directions features. If you have navigated this far into this post, I don't need to explain how to do this.
2. Save your route on Google Maps. Scroll to bottom of direction list and click "Save to My Maps".
3. Select "Create new Map" and then Save.
4. A new page appears with the "Driving directions to .........." highlighted. Under that is a blue Google Earth box. Click it.
5. Here, you have two options:
Option 1. Click open with and then use Google Earth to open.
Option 2. Save File to a temporary folder. Remember where this is....you'll need to find it later.
FYI: I have tried both and the get you to the same place.
6. If you selected "Open with Google Earth", the file should appear under "Temporary Places". If you saved the file somewhere, find it, then click open. Google Earth should open. Again, it should be under "Temporary Places".
7. Go to the file with a Google Earth globe and double click. Google Earth should now zoom in to the route you made in Google Maps.
8. Now, double click the file with the folder and green dot.
9. An underlined link should appear. right click and click "Save Place as....".
10. Save that file. I placed all my files in a folder inside a My Garmin folder under My Documents. You can save to wherever you please.
11.Open Basecamp and select "My Collection" or any folder that you want to save a file to. I created folders that used the names of the destinations under My Collections. Again, you can save to wherever you want.
12.From the File Menu, select "Import into......"
13. The file you saved in Google Earth should now appear with a Basecamp logo. Click on it, then click Open.
14. The file should now appear in Basecamp as both a List, and as a Track (two feet side by side). Right click the Track and select "Create Route from Selected Track".
15. A dialogue box should open asking you for the maximum number of via points. Check the box to do this automatically.
16. After a few heart stopping moments, a file displaying tree green boxes connected to each other should appear. Click on it.
17. If the route shows up, then VOILA! You have successfully created a route in Google Maps and imported it to Basecamp. Download to your particular GPS as usual.
This procedure is especially well suited to long trips that require advanced planning. I find Google maps the easiest mapping program available, and most searches for businesses and destinations all show up there. You can add multiple destinations and route to and from them with ease.
I hope this helps.
Keep calm. Chive on.
