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About the Companions:
Why They Were Produced

The idea for the GPS Companions was born in 1995 when my Father began navigating his small airplane and his car using a hand held GPS. I realized that he could easily find his way back to places he had been, but that the GPS wasn't very useful in finding places he had NEVER been.

To solve this problem, I set out to buy him a book containing latitude and longitude coordinate data for towns and cities in his area. I reasoned that since these "named points" were shown on road maps and aviation charts they would serve as excellent points of reference for any kind of navigation.

When I asked for this type of book at my local bookstores, they told me there was no such book. Next, I tried map stores and still found nothing. Finally, I searched aviation and sporting goods specialty shops and still found nothing. When I called Garmin, the GPS manufacturer, they suggested "scaling" a map with Lat/Lon grid on it. As pilots, we already knew how to lift coordinates from a map, but we had decided that was too much work. By this time, of course, I had become convinced that such a book was necessary, so I set about creating it.

The first two books, separate "GPS Companions" for Minnesota and Wisconsin, were published in 1996. The Companions were intended to be comprehensive from the start. Even then, they included hundreds of small towns that are omitted from most road maps.

Since then the Minnesota and Wisconsin books were combined with Iowa to create the "North Central GPS Companion". Many additional books for other regions have been added, with still more to come. As well as the most complete list of cities and small towns anywhere, the companions now include hundreds of additional points of interest tailored for each area. We try to focus on the features that make each region interesting. While the Florida book includes Disney World and lots of beaches, the "Continental Divide" book is full of mountain summits and passes. And, of course all the books contain golf courses!

For more details about the book's features click here...

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