Gottfried’s Map and GPS File
... not quite all, but a start ...
One of my computer projects these past few years is the development of a life-long travel record in the form of a database from which various maps and graphics may be drawn.
The advent of GIS and other route mapping software and low cost, consumer GPS units has brought this dream closer to realization.
I'm learning of various mapping resources; my home regions page is based on John Walker's Earthview data and programming.
Some U S A tracks:
This map is an Albers Equal Area projection of the contiguous United States, centered on 100 West longitude.
The post-February, 1998 tracks were captured with a Garmin GPS-III.
The earlier tracks are reconstructed from my old, pre-GPS records. These are now about 90% complete as far as the various records I've kept since about 1957. While the overall data (even for the older records) are quite good, these obviously are not as precise in space and time as are the GPS generated tracks. The two, unconnected 'blips' on the northwestern border are from side trips down into Glacier National (International Peace) Park from Alberta [in 1967 VW Squareback; 20 June 1968], and along the beautiful Okanogan Valley from British Columbia, Canada.
A much more recent trip to the Puget Sound area (19-25 August 1999) is described in overall fashion and in a Montana segment where the 1986 Porsche 911 Carrera was able perform on the road.
Walking in and about Ann Arbor:
I've developed a small PostScript(tm) graphics and database program (in C) to visualize and store the results of one of my main recreational activities. The sketchy map of greater Ann Arbor, MI, USA below illustrates the walks I've taken in this (home) area during Jan-May, 1999. The red tracks shown here were recorded using a Garmin GPS-III and combined with a scanned map on my home Mac.
As an example, the two records:
n. pts. miles mph | file name | short description 11 145 5.14 3.81 199904131036 walk from home to Mich. Con. Gas Co. office to pay bill 12 158 5.29 3.69 199904131159 walk from Mich. Con. Gas Co. office to homeare represented by the red lines heading off to the East. The Michigan Consolidated Gas Company office is about five miles from where I live. It is located on Washtenaw Ave., between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. Note that the database 'file name' is automatically generated from the date and time of the first track entry point:
199904131036 : 10:36 AM, April 13, 1999
The track speed [3.81 miles/hr = 5.22 kph] and length [5.14 miles = 8.43 km] is a simple calculation from the recorded data points [145].
For completeness, I'm listing below all of my 43 recorded tracks for April, 1999. Note that drives are also included and easily recognized by their higher speeds and longer distances.
n. pts. miles mph | file name | short description 1 185 12.48 12.18 199904051557 home to Allstate Insurance Office 2 102 3.13 3.90 199904061038 long way from home to Howard Cooper VW, S. State Str., AA 3 104 2.39 3.68 199904061134 long way from Howard Cooper VW to home 4 94 2.87 3.78 199904071240 walk from home to Westgate Branch, Ann Arbor Public Library 5 45 1.72 4.00 199904071433 walk from Westgate Branch, Ann Arbor Public Library to home 6 100 10.13 39.29 199904071608 from home to UPS, Ypsilanti 7 135 10.61 26.62 199904071632 from UPS to home 8 23 0.74 4.12 199904101014 walk from home to Comerica Bank Branch, West Stadium 9 17 0.78 18.61 199904101033 Comerica Bank Branch, West Stadium to home in Greg Ritchie's 10 131 3.27 4.06 199904101118 walk around local blocks 11 145 5.14 3.81 199904131036 walk from home to Mich. Con. Gas Co. office to pay bill 12 158 5.29 3.69 199904131159 walk from Mich. Con. Gas Co. office to home 13 86 5.61 19.87 199904131818 home to Fidelity Group Seminar at Huron High, AA 14 72 5.00 24.90 199904132038 Fidelity Group Seminar at Huron High to home 15 24 0.81 3.74 199904151036 Home to West Stadium Post Office 16 26 0.80 3.68 199904151052 return Home from West Stadium Post Office 17 25 0.88 3.84 199904151229 Home to West Stadium Post Office, second trip 18 24 0.81 3.77 199904151243 West Stadium Post Office to Westbranch Library 19 36 1.56 3.61 199904151420 Westbranch Library to home 20 67 7.16 39.49 199904151505 home to Computer Alley, to pick up 8GB WD disk 21 171 23.73 49.87 199904151532 Computer Alley, around Ann Arbor, to home 22 66 3.99 20.48 199904161451 home to Zingerman's Bake House for bread 23 77 4.88 24.23 199904161508 from Zingerman's Bake House to home 24 58 4.48 28.27 199904181542 from home to MG TD inspection on 1020 N. Wagner Rd. 25 46 3.51 25.79 199904181617 return from MG TD inspection on 1020 N. Wagner Rd. to home 26 22 1.30 17.91 199904181756 Cottage Inn, West Stadium Blvd. to home with pizza 27 86 5.02 18.78 199904201812 home to Huron H.S. for Fidelity Seminar 28 77 5.92 26.89 199904202107 Fidelity Seminar at Huron H.S. to home 29 78 2.00 3.68 199904240924 home, through neighborhood to West Stadium Comerica Bank 30 23 0.62 3.46 199904241003 West Stadium Comerica Bank to home 31 29 1.43 19.96 199904241050 home to Vanagon parking, near Washtenaw Dairy 32 28 0.59 4.06 199904241055 Vanagon parking, near Washtenaw Dairy to Library 33 29 0.91 3.31 199904241443 Borders to Washtenaw Dairy 34 26 1.39 19.36 199904241511 Washtenaw Dairy to home in Vanagon 35 24 1.57 19.80 199904251040 from West Stadium and Jackson Shell station to home 36 141 16.75 41.11 199904251114 from home on I-94 around Zeeb Rd. exit 37 204 30.72 51.34 199904271300 drive 64P356 around Ann Arbor on Interstate and Expressway 38 189 5.28 3.57 199904271507 walk around big two blocks 39 64 3.83 22.10 199904271819 home to Huron H.S. for Fidelity Seminar 40 78 5.77 26.48 199904272043 from Fidelity Seminar at Huron H.S. to home 41 27 1.57 20.44 199904280738 depart Ann Arbor to visit Nicholas at Oberlin 42 103 2.82 3.67 199904291314 from home to 1/2 Off Card Shop, Oak Valley Mall 43 94 2.89 3.66 199904291451 from 1/2 Off Card Shop, Oak Valley Mall to home mode n, miles mph walk: 20, 44.50, 3.74 drive: 23, 167.63, 28.85
To return to the home page just press
... still considerable work to be done here.Modified: 17 June 2003 by: Gottfried Hogh