Rands, Google outdid themselves when they added satellite maps to Google Maps. Here's a use case for you:

1. Look up a location

2. Click that location tag, a popup dialog (balloon) appears

3. Ask for driving directions to another location and search

4. Now you have your driving directions and the path traced on the map: click on the Satellite link in the upper right corner

5. Watch the image appear WITH THE PATH STILL TRACED

That was definitely a holy shit moment for me. Not only do you just get the directions, but you get a real good sense of what the surrounding area looks like before you go there. You get to figure out that you're not just "bearing left for 1.3 miles," but that there's a fork in a road at a light that has a big mall next to it--information MapQuest and the other guys can't provide yet. It's a beautiful thing.