Henry Rifle Forums

we are looking forward to returning to Texas in early January .... our itinerary is far from complete but as it stands now is shown below .... I expect to make a good number of edits between now and when we currently plan to leave home on 1-4-19

1-4-18 ... Home to Heritage RV Park ( http://www.heritagervpark.com/ ), Augusta, Ga .... projected 282 miles / 4 hr 14 min .... reserved on 11/24/18

1-5-19 ... fuel stop @ Pilot Travel Center #331 .... I-285 Exit 51 ... 2605 Bouldercrest Dr SE, Atlanta, GA 30316 .... 416 miles from home

1-5-19 ... Augusta to Sherling Lake RV Park ( http://www.greenville-alabama.com/Defau ... rling+Lake ), Greenville, AL .... projected 339 mi / 4 h 46 min .... reserved on 11/24/18

1-6-19 .... fuel stop @ Pilot Travel Center # .... I-10 Exit 13 .... 6955 Theodore Dawes Road, Theodore, AL 36582 .... 342 miles from last fuel stop

1-6-19 ... Greenville to Baton Rouge KOA ( https://koa.com/campgrounds/baton-rouge/ ), Denham Springs, LA .... projected 314 mi / 4 h 26 min ... . reserved on 11/24/18

1-7-19 ... Denham Springs to Thousand Trails Lake Conroe ( https://www.thousandtrails.com/texas/la ... ng-resort/ ), Willis Tx .... projected 294 miles / 4 hr 25 min .... reserved on 7/12/2018

1-25-19 ... Willis, TX to Bennett's RV Ranch in Granbury ( https://bennettsrv.com/ ), TX .... projected 239 miles / 3 hr 48 min .... reserved on

1-28-19 ... Granbury, TX to Thousand Trails Medina Lake Campgrond ( https://www.thousandtrails.com/texas/me ... campround/ ), Lake Hills, TX .... projected 246 miles / 4 hr 30 min .... reserved on 8/1/2018

2-18-19 ... Lake Hills, TX to Thousand Trails Colorado River Campground ( https://www.thousandtrails.com/texas/co ... ampground/ ), Columbus, TX.... projected 165 miles / 2 hr 41 min .... reserved on 8/1/2018

3-11-19 .... Columbus, TX to Thousand Trails Lake Conroe ( https://www.thousandtrails.com/texas/la ... ng-resort/ ), Willis Tx.... projected 112 miles / 2 hr 4 min .... reserved on 8/28/18

4-1-19 .... Willis, TX to Baton Rouge KOA ( https://koa.com/campgrounds/baton-rouge/ ), Denham Springs, LA .... projected 294 mi / 4 h 25 min ... . reserved on

4-2-19 .... Denham Springs, LA to Sherling Lake RV Park ( http://www.greenville-alabama.com/Defau ... rling+Lake ), Greenville, AL .... projected 314 mi / 4 h 26 min .... reserved on 11/24/18

4-3-19 .... Greenville, AL to Heritage RV Park ( http://www.heritagervpark.com/ ), Augusta, Ga .... projected 339 mi / 4 h 46 min .... reserved on 11/24/18

4-4-19 .... Augusta, GA to HOME .... projected 282 miles / 4 hr 14 min

That's quite a bit of moving around. How good/bad is the internet access throughout your travels?

Mags wrote:How good/bad is the internet access throughout your travels?

history has taught us not to rely on internet service that might be provided at campgrounds ... while some is OK, more often than not its poor to nonexistent ... consequently, we use a Verizon MIFI JetPack for internet service both at home and on the road .... while in some places it works better than others .... while we have been in areas without cell phone service, we haven't been anywhere we have been without internet service .... every few years we check with other companies to find out about their technology, areas of coverage, and cost for various plans .... so far, Verizon has been the best for us

Mags wrote:That's quite a bit of moving around.

we've been members of Thousand Trails since '02 .... if they have parks are where you want to go and you have the time to spend in them, I haven't found a better / cheaper way to travel with a camper .... over the years, they have offered bunches and bunches of different memberships .... after a good bit of research, we found and were able to buy one from another member which serves is best .... best example I can give is not buying a condo from the developer, buying from a person who has one and for whatever reason is highly motivated to sell .... by the terms of our membership we can stay 3 weeks in one of their parks and move directly to another .... with the parks we use in Texas, it takes +/- 3 hrs for us to move from one to another .... doing so once 3 every weeks doesn't take much effort and allows us to visit more areas .... through this membership we can literally travel from NC to Texas and spend the winter much cheaper than we can stay at home .... if anyone would like specific info on cost and such, I'd be happy to provide it via Private Messaging

A man with a plan. Hope you have a safe and fun trip! One day, I would like to travel more also.

our plans are always Absolute and Final, Subject to Change at Any Second .. .. for us, traveling in our camper has proven to be a wonderful experience .... doing so most certainly isn't for everyone but we've come to really enjoy our time on the road .... one of the things we enjoy the most is meeting folks from this and couple of other forums .... over time we've been most fortunate to build some highly valued friendships

if things go as scheduled, we have just under 2 weeks to go before we will once again be on the road headed southwest to Texas .... our itinerary shown in post 1 has been modified and updated .... its kind of hard to believe that a trip that has been in the planning for well over 4 months is all but at hand .... during that time a rather lengthy pre-trip check list has been methodically whittled down to where there are very items left .... the biggest ticket item has been replacing our camper's roof .... on a much smaller scale a few pots and pans have been replaced, the truck has been serviced, a sealant has been rolled on the top of one slide-out, and the storage areas have been reorganized/repacked with items we know we will need in Texas .... tomorrow we will tow the camper to one of our son's home where we will stay in it over Christmas .... during the days spent there we hope to use all of the camper's systems as one last test .... hopefully we will find all systems are go .... sometime after Christmas we will begin moving clothing and other such items into the camper .... all of a sudden the trip has transitioned to being very real

Travel safe.

JEbar
So with the jet pack how much data do you use in a month. Do you have the unlimited data plan or are you at a set GB.

we have a 4G 24 gig plan with no overage charges .... if we use less than 24 in a given month, the difference carries over to the next month .... if we go over 24 or 24 + whatever was c arried over from the previous month, they slow down the speed to 3G .... we don't play games or spend much time watching videos so, we've had the plan for several years and have only gone over 24 a couple of times

I have century link here at home and Im ready to let them find someone else to mess with. They have constantly mess around with charges on my bill and Im gettin a little tired of it. I only have 12mbs here and thats the best they can do for my area. I can get 5 times the speed for the same amount of money from xfinity I just havent switch yet. These internet companies are as bad as the TV cable people there isnt a one of them thats very user friendly.

our service is with Verizon .... with us on the road 6 or so months a year we require a wireless system that we can take with us ....Verizon calls our "hot spot" (for lack of a better term) a MIFI .... on most of our travels it has performed reasonably well .... we've never camped in place where we didn't have internet service .... that said, the strength of that service has varied all over the scale

JEBar wrote:

Mags wrote:How good/bad is the internet access throughout your travels?

history has taught us not to rely on internet service that might be provided at campgrounds ... while some is OK, more often than not its poor to nonexistent ... consequently, we use a Verizon MIFI JetPack for internet service both at home and on the road .... while in some places it works better than others .... while we have been in areas without cell phone service, we haven't been anywhere we have been without internet service .... every few years we check with other companies to find out about their technology, areas of coverage, and cost for various plans .... so far, Verizon has been the best for us

I travel in the same way and have often found the cities in between the campgrounds have better signals; so I might plan an hour stop just to get on the internet.

Sir Henry wrote:I travel in the same way and have often found the cities in between the campgrounds have better signals; so I might plan an hour stop just to get on the internet.

we've never done that but it sure does make sense .... I guess my long distance truck driving days are still pretty firmly entrenched .... when I head from point A to point B, I don't like to mess around with anything that delays me getting there .... while anything can happen, I don't see that changing any time soon

decision time .... one of the things I really enjoy while traveling is linking up with folks from this and a couple of other forums and spending some time out on a range with them .... accordingly, decisions have to be made as to which firearms along with their ammo to take with us .... for trap shooting, the decision is simple, our early 90's Remington 11-87 Premir 12 ga .... for pistol shooting , our 1992 Redhawk 44 Mag .... for rifle shooting, our Henry BBS 44 Mag .... with that rifle back at Henry and not expecting to have access to is for several weeks or more after getting to Texas, I've had to come up with a Plan B .... I'm strongly considering taking our CCH 45-70 or our 1970 BLR 308 .... to help make up my mind I, yesterday I spent some time firing them .... looks like doing so worked, I now plan to take them both .. .. sometime between now and Jan 4th, I need to spend a few hours at our loading bench to stock up .... I'm particularly looking forward to firing the BLR at the 200 yard range found at the Blackwood Gun Club ===> http://www.blackwoodgunclub.com/rangesRifle_pistol.asp .... I don't have access to a local range that offers more than 125 yard firing lanes .... that should be fun .... our Sportchassis has been serviced (sure glad with the way we travel that it only requires it once a year) .... next week we will need to fill one of the camper's 40 lb propane tanks .... after that (hopefully) we should be good to go ...

we are spending a second night parked next to our oldest son's home where our family meets for Christmas .... we've had a very nice time .... a second objective for this outing has been a final test of the campers systems prior to pulling out for Texas .... somewhat unexpectedly, 2 issues have surfaced .... first, our water heater works on propane but not on electric .... this water heater is the only appliance in our camper that hasn't been repaired, upgraded, or replaced .... right now my bet would be that the electric heating element has failed .... with it working well on propane, we plan to have it fixed after we get to Lake Conroe just north of Houston ..... the second issue is an OEM plastic gear in the roof mounted TV antenna has broken .... the Jack antenna was laying on the camper's new roof .... one of our sons got up on the roof and removed the gear along with the riser arms and Jack antenna .... the housing that contains the broken gear has also cracked .... I'm concerned that it may leak and plan to personally get up on the roof tomorrow after we get home to inspect it .... my objective is to seal (don't know how) any possible leaks sufficiently to where we can also have it repaired at Lake Conroe

we are spending a second night parked next to our oldest son's home where our family meets for Christmas .... we've had a very nice time .... a second objective for this outing has been a final test of the campers systems prior to pulling out for Texas .... somewhat unexpectedly, 2 issues have surfaced .... first, our water heater works on propane but not on electric .... this water heater is the only appliance in our camper that hasn't been repaired, upgraded, or replaced .... right now my bet would be that the electric heating element has failed .... with it working well on propane, we plan to have it fixed after we get to Lake Conroe just north of Houston ..... the second issue is an OEM plastic gear in the roof mounted TV antenna has broken .... the Jack antenna was laying on the camper's new roof .... one of our sons got up on the roof and removed the gear along with the riser arms and Jack antenna .... the housing that contains the broken gear has also cracked .... I'm concerned that it may leak and plan to personally get up on the roof tomorrow after we get home to inspect it .... my objective is to seal (don't know how) any possible leaks sufficiently to where we can also have it repaired at Lake Conroe

things are looking up a bit .....

issue ===> broken TV antenna : I got up on the roof ( yep, I got up on the roof - won't be unhappy if I never have to do so again ) .... looked it over, the base appears to be in tact .... the broken gear (shown below) will have to be replaced .... I don't see anywhere that gives me cause for concern about a water leak .... that said, my customary paranoia will kick in and I'll probably come up with something .... I'm not sure how it goes back together so I will have to have it worked on in Texas

issue ===> found out this morning that the truck's cabin heater fan not working : the dealer from who we purchased the truck was helpful .... it appears that there isn't a separate fuse for the heater fan .... its wired into some other fuse and not labeled on the fuse block's .... since I couldn't check the fuse I decided to remove the switch panel ... did so, every thing looked good to me ... wiggled the switch and the fan came on .... put it back together and it still works .... trouble shooting electrical issues ain't all that complicated ..

issue ===> decided to take a look at the camper's water heater .... opened the outer water heater door and remembered the hidden reset button .... pushed the button and felt it click .... turned on water heater and let it sit a while .... went back and checked .... yep, the water is HOT ....... trouble shooting electrical issues ain't all that complicated .... OK, when it comes to electrical issues, I have pretty close to NO skill whatsoever .... I'm sure happy the "issues" proved to be minor

day temps on the rise but heavy rain is on the way for the next couple of days .... only trip related task planned for today is to fill the 40 lb tank that we have been using since July when we were in South Dakota .... per history, it should last us for most of our time in Texas .... I do find myself still thinking about the camper's TV antenna .... predictably, paranoia is setting in, I wish I'd of added one more layer of tape .. .. absolutely no way I'm getting back up there to add it .... well, at least not until the level of paranoia grows a bit stronger ..

we are scheduled to pull out for Texas in 8 days .... rain is predicted on 7 of them .. .. thankfully, no predictions this year for any subfreezing temps .... last year we were forced to delay our departure 3 times due to ice/snow .... the good news is, our first day's drive is the only one with rain predicted from home to our campground in Willis, TX ..