Now you have raised some MORE problems: if we ask GW members to rate the different "destinations", you are going to get a fairly skewed rating if only one or two GW folks have ever been there. Example: there may be the odd nursery or novel garden just off the NJ Turnpike that only one GW person (like me!) might ever have been to. . .does my 5-star rating make it a "must-see"? I'd be the first to admit that someone else might find it only a 2-star. . .after all, this is very subjective material. Perhaps a tight, concise commentary on each "destination" would serve us better, possibly even following a standardized format. . .that way, we could each "read between the lines" and apply our individual value judgements as to whether we deem it worthy of a visit. And certainly in my case, I'd be more than happy to elaborate further on a particular destination I was familiar with, if someone needed greater feedback. . .following in that vein, perhaps a listing (w/ permission, of course) of those GW folks who had visited and/or recommended each location? Too complex? As to your concern about eliminating "worthy" destinations if they are "too far" from I-95: providing mileage (at least) , and possibly estimated driving time from an exit, should be a given starting point. Would I recommend visiting Chanticleer as you're cruising down I-95 south of Philadelphia, even though it's 15 miles from Exit #7?. . . in a heartbeat! What if you're over on the NJ Turnpike, a distance of 26 miles from Exit #2 ? . . .still, in a heartbeat! Shouldn't people know that Longwood Gardens is just 11 miles from Exit #7 (I-95 in Delaware), or that Wintherthur is a mere 6 miles from the same exit? All these hypothetical destinations point up two more criteria that might be important: best time (season) to visit (Chanticleer = only open April to October, no bad time; Longwood Gardens = year-round interest because of the conservatory; Winterthur = Spring). . .and perhaps a minimum length of time for a visit, which in the case of all these three, at least, would be half a day! In other words, these three are examples of destinations that you would decidedly want to include on an otherwise mundane trip down I-95, but they are NOT hour-long breaks in an otherwise tedious journey. The ideal, to me, would be a core of "casual", near-by nursery/garden breaks along any given route, but making sure to point up I-95's proximity to major destinations as well, even if it means traveling an extra 25 miles (or up to an hour?). Of course, any listing would include a web address (if available) to inform folks of hours and/or fees. This whole subject seems to get more convoluted with every key stroke! Yet, it still fascinates me. . .years ago, there was a wonderful book listing healthy/ interesting off-the-beaten-path places to eat when you traveled the country. Sadly, given the flux inherent in the restaurant trade, the book was quickly out-of-date and I've never been aware of any similar replacement (anyone?). This project has a very similar feel to it, and especially if it included garden sites, might prove more lasting. . .and once I-95 in the NorthEast is nailed down, we can start radiating outward onto I-90, I-76, I-78, I-80, I-84, I-91, I-87, California, here we come ! Carl

Have you though about contacting your local County Agricultural agent? I now there are systems available to give precise measurement of a field as the big farmers use it for plowing, planting and harvesting. My guess is that you are looking for more precision and accuracy than is needed for the job you are trying to do. Yes when you plant a tree, you are talking of about a 2' circle. However the tree at maturity will require a circle about 30 feet in diameter, and a bush depending on what it is, 4' to 10'. Because of this you only need cover your yard with grid with 10' squares and locate each tree and bush with in that grid. If you plant a Maple and a rose bush in the same grid, it will be easy to tell the rose bush from the maple. You could increase the accuracy of the location, by designating the southwest quarter of grid box 10. This would be similar to the Township/Section system surveyors uses to designate property. If you are not familiar with the method of surveying, there are many documents describing the system, as it was codified in the 1780's, and all property in US deeds today are still described by the same system.

Don't have Apple and won't have them so only android for me. My elderly aunts in there 80's only have computers and can only learn 1 thing so Facebook works best for them. They don't have cell phones. My Mom's young grand kids can do everything. Used Facebook for years now and find it the easiest to communicate with friends plus have found some old high school chums by way of facebook. I was able to Find distant relatives on my Dad's side by way of facebook to let them know of my Mom's passing. Find it a really wonderful tool when I had to do live feeds for every one in the family at once. Can you do that with Skype? I have only ever Skyped one at a time so never looked into it since facebook had the capability to broadcast live to every one and the elderly don't have skype. Family that couldn't attend my Mom's funeral got to see everyone sing her favorite song at the grave site while it was live. I got so many thank you's for doing that so was worth it. I guess it all depends on how you like to do things online as to what you use. Mary

"I can use Google apps on my Apple iPhone, and sync that iPhone with my Microsoft laptop running Windows." Apple products are still less, not more, interoperable with third party products. A friend of mine, a pretty consistent Apple products user, has to maintain a Windows PC to use three very common financial products - Turbo Tax, Quicken, and Quickbooks. One of the three-maybe Turbo Tax - has a Mac version but my friend says it sucks compared to the Windows version. I think two of the others aren't available at all in Mac versions. These are widely used programs, with tens of millions of customers. As far as Apple compatibility with other standard products, well, duh. Maps are another good example. The iPhone map app has struggled, playing catchup for years and years and (according to iphone users I know) still isn't there yet. They could easily encourage use of the Google Map app to give users a more useful capability but they won't do so. My immediate thought concerning what lars was talking about when he said "I prefer to have more choices than what Apple offers". is how in the Apple world, there are few user configurable options and no alternative sources of equipment manufacturers (which keeps prices somewhere in check). As an example of inflexibility, I use Itunes as a "podcaster" or podcast aggregator. In it I choose what podcast series I want to receive regularly and when I trigger an update, it does the download. Itunes has this annoying feature that it periodically unsubscribes me from podcasts I've set up to have downloaded. . I called Apple support and asked why. The support guy asked "Do you ever listen to the podcasts on your PC?" I said "No". He said "That's one of the most useful features - when you haven't listened to the podcast in (I think he said) 2 weeks, we know you don't want it anymore so we switch the status to "not subscribed". I said - "No, not at all. I download the podcasts to the PC but then transfer the files to two different portable players that I use to listen to them. In doing that, I never listen on the PC. How can I change the setting so that it doesn't keep unsubscribing me". He replied- "You can't change that setting, it's made that way to be most useful to our customers" I got what I should have expected - a BS answer akin to the joke from long ago in the consumer-market software industry - No, that isn't a bug, that's an intentional feature. WIndows PC and Android device users are accustomed to being able to choose configuration options so that the devices behave as they prefer. I understand that at first pass sometimes for beginner level users, this can provide some difficulties and frustrations but all of it is well documented and can be learned. Apple products often don't offer options.