2020 Grand Tour - Ride plans, photos, general conversation

[StarWolve]

Now that we're back underway, I thought I'd update the thread with my annual "how-to" on mapping.

This year was a bit more challenging... there are some really great maps out there for each state's Scenic Byways. They're maintained by the state DOT's - which means they have a larger budget than I do for mapping software, and use ArcGIS for most of their maps. I've used the software for the Army, and it's great - but expensive.

My goal is always to get the maps into Google Earth, as I use that for ride planning and it's free.

So if you're a "map geek" like me, you can sign up for a 21 day trial of ArcGIS pro, download the state scenic byways maps, and the use the "convert to KML" function to export the maps to a format that can be opened by Google Earth. The sign-up process is a pain - their website is one of the worst I've used to sign up for a trial and download software - but I got through it eventually.

I'm in the process of doing the local states local to me (I consider anything East of the Mississippi "local" to me) but if anyone has a specific request for conversion, please reach out to me at starwolve@hotmail.com, and I'll try to help. But I only have 20 days left on my trial software, so do it ASAP!

If you can find the map file for ArcGIS (usually an "item.pitemx" file for the state) on your state's scenic byways site, or on ArcGIS online, that will help. I'll create a follow up post in a few days with my KML files to share, but will probably be focusing on the East Coast states first.