2017 Winter In Texas

[JEBar]

Nice looking Montana .... we are pretty much tied to Thousand Trails Parks during our time in Texas .... the area around Corpus and Port Aransas are really nice .... historically about as close as we get to the Gulf is Lake Conroe, just north of Houston

[JEBar]

1-14-17 .... today's 353.7 mile/6 hr 20 min drive from Augusta, Ga to Greenville, Al went well .... we've covered 674.6 miles in the last 2 days .... for the first time ever, the traffic around Atlanta wasn't bad at all .. .. took on fuel just south of Montgomery, Al and as anticipated, our mileage dropped about a half of a MPG with the 10% biodiesel .... now that the tanks are pretty much full of it, we anticipate tomorrow's mileage to drop some more .... our truck wasn't built for it and clearly doesn't like the stuff .... it was 78 degrees when we arrived here in Sherling Lake, so we've had both AC's going .... its supposed to get down to 49 tonight so the heaters will be in action .... yep, interesting weather

[ace73]

That is an amazing rig!
Wishing you safe travels!

[JEBar]

That is an amazing rig!
Wishing you safe travels!

kind words and good wishes appreciated ... this combo of an '06 camper and '07 Sportchassis has literally been ocean to ocean and border to border, she turned over 135,000 miles today .... we are fortunate to have been able to travel through all of the lower 48 states .... many campers today are built with much more glitz but none of I'm aware of come with any stronger guts .... as but one example, you simply don't see triple stacked box tube frames anymore .... over the years she's undergone a long list of upgrades that hopefully will last for as long as health and other factors allows us to travel

[JEBar]

1-15-17 .... 3 consecutive driving days, 1 left to go .... today we covered 327 miles in 5 hrs 10 minutes and are setup at Baton Rouge KOA .... to date on this trip we have covered 991.6 miles .... in a way its hard to believe (based on past history) its not raining, no standing water .. .. in fact, things look pretty dry .... just so as to keep up a touch of reality, they are calling for heavy fog in the morning with rain to move in about the time we are due to pull out .. .. once we get to Lake Conroe I hope to update the various threads about the CG's we have visited .... we do plan to fill the truck just prior to getting into Texas .... per the Flying J website where they have a Pilot pumping B5 diesel .... hopefully that load of fuel will take care of our needs until we get out to Colorado River where (a year ago) they had a station pumping regular non-bio diesel .... we usually try to not schedule more than three consecutive days driving and when we do, we usually schedule no travel on the next day .... on this trip we have scheduled 4 consecutive driving days .... we are really looking forward to getting to Lake Conroe where we can settle in for 21 days

[JEBar]

1-16-17 .... after covering 316.5 miles in 5 hrs 47 min and a total of 1,307.6 miles since leaving home, we are setup in Thousand Trails Lake Conroe CG .... we are scheduled to be here for the next 3 weeks ..... pictures of our site and our partial setup are shown below .... as can be seen, its been raining and according to AccuWeather it is going to set back in within 30 minutes .... thunderstorms ("heavy at times") are supposed to roll in about 1AM and to hang around most all day tomorrow .... thankfully our day's drive went well, boring all the way .... no fog, no rain, no traffic issues .... we did take on more fuel just prior to getting into Texas which was a mistake .... fuel prices where we are now run around 30 cents a gallon cheaper .... we will most certainly leave Texas with full tanks .... unless there is a break in the weather tomorrow, we will not complete our full setup until Wednesday

[dasmoeturhead]

Looks like a nice place. I didn't notice the Winter Texan sticker on your pickup. I saw those down on South Padre Island 2 winters ago.

[dasmoeturhead]

1-15-17 .... 3 consecutive driving days, 1 left to go .... today we covered 327 miles in 5 hrs 10 minutes and are setup at Baton Rouge KOA .... to date on this trip we have covered 991.6 miles .... in a way its hard to believe (based on past history) its not raining, no standing water .. .. in fact, things look pretty dry .... just so as to keep up a touch of reality, they are calling for heavy fog in the morning with rain to move in about the time we are due to pull out .. .. once we get to Lake Conroe I hope to update the various threads about the CG's we have visited .... we do plan to fill the truck just prior to getting into Texas .... per the Flying J website where they have a Pilot pumping B5 diesel .... hopefully that load of fuel will take care of our needs until we get out to Colorado River where (a year ago) they had a station pumping regular non-bio diesel .... we usually try to not schedule more than three consecutive days driving and when we do, we usually schedule no travel on the next day .... on this trip we have scheduled 4 consecutive driving days .... we are really looking forward to getting to Lake Conroe where we can settle in for 21 days

So you don't adhere to the 222 fulltimers code; Drive 200 miles, pull in by 2pm, stay 2 days?

[JEBar]

So you don't adhere to the 222 fulltimers code; Drive 200 miles, pull in by 2pm, stay 2 days?

while it certainly has its own attraction, I haven't evolved that far .... early on I spent time driving a long distance big rig where getting from point A to point B was the objective .... no messing around in between ..... most of my wife's family lives in South Dakota .... we were working so we had a set time to leave and a set time we had to be back .... to spend the most time out there, with the exception of fuel/food/restaurant stops, I'd pretty much drive the 1,600 miles straight through from NC .... I have slowed down some, it now takes us 5 driving days to cover the same distance .... of course, back then we weren't towing a camper

[JEBar]

another rainy day in the neighborhood .... according to the hourly forecast, we are due for rain to continue during more hours through tomorrow than they are calling for it not to rain .... we had numerous bands of heavy rain move through last night ..... in Houston (about 40 miles south of us) they got about 5" of rain and report some major flooding .... our current CG is literally on Lake Conroe .... thankfully our site is on one of the high points .... there are sites down hill from ours that are really wet .... we have seen a few that have had to relevel their camper's due to settling .... in that regard, our Bigfoot Leveling Pads seem to provide a big enough footprint that we haven't had any settling ---- yet .... just to get out for a while we made our first trip to the HEB grocery in Conroe .... from the crowd you'd think they were calling for snow .... my list of need to adjust/fix projects is growing .... the growth in my level of motivation required to get started on them isn't keeping pace ..

[CT_Shooter]

...my list of need to adjust/fix projects is growing .... the growth in my level of motivation required to get started on them isn't keeping pace ..

I hear that loud and clear. Our house's exterior was painted again this year, but I didn't do it myself. It's way too much for me now. I'm actually a bit fearful of being at the top of a ladder, not to mention the challenge of climbing up and down and moving it along. I'm not too proud and I'm happy to pay the man, thanking him so very much for his good work.

[CT_Shooter]

...my list of need to adjust/fix projects is growing .... the growth in my level of motivation required to get started on them isn't keeping pace ..

I hear that loud and clear. Our house's exterior was painted again this year, but I didn't do it myself. It's way too much for me now. I'm actually a bit fearful of being at the top of a ladder, not to mention the challenge of climbing up and down and moving it along. I'm not too proud and I'm happy to pay the man, thanking him so very much for his good work.

Be safe JEBar. And be careful, too.

[JEBar]

good wishes and wise advice appreciated .... most of the things I need to take care of center on replacing 3 light bulbs, trying to repair a central vacuum switch, and most importantly, complete our setup ....

[dasmoeturhead]

So you don't adhere to the 222 fulltimers code; Drive 200 miles, pull in by 2pm, stay 2 days?

while it certainly has its own attraction, I haven't evolved that far .... early on I spent time driving a long distance big rig where getting from point A to point B was the objective .... no messing around in between ..... mostt of my wife's family lives in South Dakota .... we were working so we had a set time to leave and a set time we had to be back .... to spend the most time out there, with the exception of fuel/food/restaurant stops, I'd pretty much drive the 1,600 miles straight through from NC .... I have slowed down some, it now takes us 5 driving days to cover the same distance .... of course, back then we weren't towing a camper

I understand. I tried the 222 a few times, but we just pretty much winged it for 17 months, and all lower 48. Trip of a lifetime. Settled down mow, but seeing your pictures makes me want to hitch up and go. I've got to much work yet around here to do. Maybe next winter.
Enjoy your travels.

[JEBar]

I understand. I tried the 222 a few times, but we just pretty much winged it for 17 months, and all lower 48. Trip of a lifetime. Settled down mow, but seeing your pictures makes me want to hitch up and go. I've got to much work yet around here to do. Maybe next winter.
Enjoy your travels.

I'd go full time in a heartbeat but my wife will not .... basically, we are on the road 6 +/- months a year .... 3 +/- months in the summer and the same in the winter .... over time we have visited all of the lower 48 states and have found some areas that we hope to be able to visit again .... traditionally we spend our summers in my wife's hometown in South Dakota in a area where most of her family still live ..... in the winter we have grown fond of spending our time in the Houston/San Antonio areas .... my wife has a couple of relatives in that area but we seldom have the opportunity to spend much time with them .... we have reached the point were we enjoy "being there" more than "getting there" .... the total driving mileage involved in going either direction usually falls in the 5,000 +/- miles .... traveling to and from our home to South Dakota usually takes 5 driving days - to and from Texas usually takes 4 driving days .... we are both in our 70's and hope to be able to travel for a good while to come

[JEBar]

its a foggy morning in the neighborhood .... thankfully, its also the first morning since our arrival in Texas last Monday, its not a rainy morning in the neighborhood .... shortly we plan to head for Conroe to drop off some items with a local gunsmith who I have come to trust .... the highlight of the morning (for me) will be, what has become our custom, taking my wife Christmas Shopping .... our project for our return is to complete our setup .... really looking forward to spending most of the day outside of the camper

[JEBar]

all-in-all, its been a good week .... my left knee tells me that a front moved through last night .... yesterday's high temp was 75, today they are calling for it to get up to 60 .... biggest negative of the week has been the need to have a leak in the pipe that carries the "gray water" from the kitchen sink out of the camper .... as it turned out, the repair shouldn't have been necessary .... I allowed a fellow (who needed the work) to modify that pipe and he simply didn't put any glue in one of the couplers .... as part of his mod he used some expanding foam insulation to seal a hole and that foam was all that had held the pipe in place for the last 3 years .... I-10 in Louisiana apparently shook it loose .... given that mobile repair services are expensive, we are delighted it wasn't any worse .... a few days ago, as noted above, we dropped our Henry 45-70, a Ruger M77 30-06, and 2 Remington 12 ga 11-87's at a local gunsmith who I have come to trust .... all are with him for various mods to reduce felt recoil .... I found his reaction to our Henry to be interesting .... apparently years ago before Anthony Imperato took over they went through a period where their quality wasn't anywhere near where it is today .... during that time he worked on several and had very poor impression of them .... that seemed to change as he handled and looked over our 45-70 .... he did say that there are more effective recoil pads available so he will install a replacement .... he is also going to install a Mercury Recoil Suppressor .... we are looking forward to picking them up and testing them on Feb 21st

[Gregorsway]

I found his reaction to our Henry to be interesting .... apparently years ago before Anthony Imperato took over they went through a period where their quality wasn't anywhere near where it is today .... during that time he worked on several and had very poor impression of them .... that seemed to change as he handled and looked over our 45-70 .... he did say that there are more effective recoil pads available so he will install a replacement .... he is also going to install a Mercury Recoil Suppressor .... we are looking forward to picking them up and testing them on Feb 21st

That's good to hear coming from someone who knew the company prior to current times! I know this is a Henry forum, but I've heard nothing but good things in the gun shops I frequent- even from guys who aren't fond of them. Let us know how that mercury RS works. I have a gunsmith who looked at a 7mm Mag I have with a light stock he recommended I do this. The kevlar stock could use a little bit of weight to it anyways. Glad your trip is going well! Take care of that weather forecasting knee!

[JEBar]

That's good to hear coming from someone who knew the company prior to current times! I know this is a Henry forum, but I've heard nothing but good things in the gun shops I frequent- even from guys who aren't fond of them. Let us know how that mercury RS works. I have a gunsmith who looked at a 7mm Mag I have with a light stock he recommended I do this. The kevlar stock could use a little bit of weight to it anyways. Glad your trip is going well! Take care of that weather forecasting knee!

over the years, having had them installed in 6 rifles/shotguns, I know the Mercury Recoil Suppressors work .... the physics behind it is pretty simple .... when you pull the trigger the recoil is consistent .... what the Mercury Suppressor does is lengthen the spike and in terms I can understand turns the force of the recoil into a push instead of being a punch .... for us it is a key component in a package of mods ... other components include installing a top quality recoil pad and often Mag-Na-Porting

[JEBar]

I well remember my folks telling me that the older one gets the faster time flies by .... its hard to believe we have been in Texas for 2 weeks .... a week from today we are scheduled to move a bit further west to Thousand Trails Colorado River Campground which is near Columbus, TX .... yesterday I spoke with the gunsmith handling the upgrades .... years ago I paid a fellow to install a Mercury Recoil Suppressor and upgrade the recoil pad on my Remington 11-87 .... in our conversation yesterday he informed me that no Mercury Suppressor had been installed, no hole had been drilled to accommodate it .. .. oh well, there will be one in it when we pick it up in a few weeks .... the weather north of Houston at Lake Conroe has taken a positive turn, daytime temps in the low to mid 70's with no rain in sight ..