Tom Tom No No!

[Jester]

So I drove up to Fort Lauderdale without incident. Got the off-site parking that I've used before without incident, and quite early. And as I'm grabbing everything from my truck, somehow the power cord for my GPS unit broke. Well, not the cord itself, but the part that plugs into the vehicle. So now I've got some options while I'm in Houston.

1. Hope I can find a replacement cord somewhere. I don't know Houston worth a damn. Which is why I need the GPS to get around. Hopefully here at the airport I can find a Radio Shack in Houston on my route so when I land I can just go to it. And hopefully they have a cord.
2. Hope that the GPS unit is charged up enough to go without a power cord. Not sure if that works....never tried it without it being plugged in.
3. Rely on my phone, which unlike the GPS unit, does not have a suction cup to stick to the windshield so I can easily see where I'm going.

Fun!

[WishfulSpirit]

Put a headphone in one ear and use the voice direction on your phone. Not perfect but it works.

[Jester]

Not sure if my phone has voice direction, though I will look into it. Also, I brilliantly left my phone car charger in my car back at the park and go. I have my portable charger, but that's it. Hopefully, I won't have to use my phone, or the GPS feature on it won't eat too much battery. One way or another, I'm sure I'll figure it out.

[dalesys]

4. Find (HA!) and buy a paper map.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

We forgot our GPS car charger when we left for vacation last week. We were able to find a replacement at Walmart; they were with the GPSs.

[Victory Sabre]

I know my Garmin has an internal battery, which was vey useful when the cigeratte lighter in my car broke in Moline, IL. It got me back to Des Moines, several hours later. Hopefully yours can do the same thing.

Also, Have a whole lot of fun on your vacation.

[wolfie]

Hopefully here at the airport I can find a Radio Shack in Houston on my route so when I land I can just go to it.

Got some bad news - to the best of my knowledge there are NO Radio Shacks in Houston. Chain went bankrupt, and all stores have been closed.

Too late for this trip, but it would be a good idea to find out what the connector on your GPS, and the one on your phone, is called. That way you'd just need to ask for it by name (or, for a less common one like mini-USB, "jury rig" one out of a wall-to-USB adapter and a "universal" USB extension cable (cable and a number of converter tips - typically has mini, micro, printer, and link adapters).

[Ironclad Alibi]

Got some bad news - to the best of my knowledge there are NO Radio Shacks in Houston. Chain went bankrupt, and all stores have been closed.

According to the Radio Shack web site store locator there are 10 stores in the Houston area.

RadioShack Wins Final Approval of Chapter 11 Plan

Sprint is taking over a number of Radio Shack stores.

[Seanette]

Got some bad news - to the best of my knowledge there are NO Radio Shacks in Houston. Chain went bankrupt, and all stores have been closed.

At least one RS still exists in my area. I was just in it within the last few weeks, and the nice young man at the counter said there were no plans for that one to close.

[Rosco the Iroc]

no cord needed, know how to use road signs

[Mikkel]

The micro-usb charging cable for the phone will probably fit somewhere on the GPS.
Otherwise Google maps for android has voice directions. It will cost some data.

[Jester]

Got some bad news - to the best of my knowledge there are NO Radio Shacks in Houston. Chain went bankrupt, and all stores have been closed.

All stores have not been closed, either nationally or in Houston. Many stores have been closed, certainly, but we still have one here in Key West, though a newer second one did close a few months ago. And there were several open in the Houston area, though as it turns out, I went to the one in the town in the boonies my niece lives in, and they had exactly what I needed. Which was awesome.

4. Find (HA!) and buy a paper map.

[IMG]
no cord needed, know how to use road signs

Both excellent ideas, and a method I've used in the past. However, the ad anger of the GPS is that it mounts to the inner windshield so I have a very visual heads up display I can refer to and, if I want to, a voice prompt as well, though I rarely use that. Beyond that, the problem with maps is not only that you have to be able to read road signs, they have to be visible, you have to know where they'll be, and they have to be well lit at night....things that are not always the case. I'm not addicted to technology, don't get me wrong, but when it offers a superior method I can use, I'm gonna use it.

The micro-usb charging cable for the phone will probably fit somewhere on the GPS.

First thing I checked before I left my truck. My phone's car charger has a different plug design that that of the GPS. It would not fit.

And as my girlfriend and several of you pointed out, I could have used my phone's GPS with voice directions, yes. Not only is that somewhat annoying, it prevents me from talking to my girlfriend on the phone when I'm driving, or of enjoying music or sports talk radio. Again, better than nothing, but the optimal thing would have been what I did, which was get a new charger. Mission accomplished.

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions, though, folks. I didn't need them this time, but next time, who knows? It's good to know I have such a good support system here at CS.

[Mikkel]

Good thing you got a new charger. That is the best solution.
I almost can't remember how I managed before the invention of the GPS. I suppose I could still remember how to write down a route (->3, after bridge <-6 and so on) but finding your way in unknown cities are incomparably easier now.