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Old 09-19-2014, 07:42 AM   #1
Art-n-Marge
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Oh my, it can happen to us...

Full-timing in the Montana.

Moved out of the stickhouse, put all our goods in storage and allowed our daughter, SIL, and 3 grandkids to move into it.

We now use our Monty to stay in TT (Thousand Trails) campgrounds for free. We pay a small "annual maintenance fee" but that's about it. Utilities are free, too, unless we want to stay longer then we'll have to purchase long-term leasing terms. So far, we don't mind moving every 21 days to avoid leasing fees. But we can go from TT campground to another and there are several within 100 miles of our house. We often go back to visit the stickhouse (repairs, minor maintenance or to swap things we need, but mostly to visit the grandbabies).

We use DirecTV for entertainment (Ugh, on the manual aiming, might have to break down and go for something more automatic) and a Verizon Hotspot for Internet (ugh, on the expense!). Anyone have better solutions for Internet? 5Gb don't cut it and we struggle keeping under 10Gb at $80 per month. Higher data rates are very expensive, but we need higher.
 
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Old 09-19-2014, 08:16 AM   #2
DQDick
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Hope you enjoy full timing as much as we do. I broke down and bought a Winegard Traveler last year. Best money I've spent. I love just pushing a button and having it set itself up. On the internet we've tried a lot of stuff and we use 18 gigs a month so I know what you're talking about expense wise. Your area will make a big difference. We tried other services, but since we work for Fish and Wildlife in the winter we are frequently way out in the boonies. We use Verizon because their coverage is best where we go. The other cheaper services that use Verizon's network have equipment that just didn't cut it for us out there. As a result we use an Ellipsis jetpack and when necessary a Wilson booster. The other cheaper services have worked well for others, but didn't cut it for us.
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Old 09-19-2014, 10:19 AM   #3
Mrs. CountryGuy
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Verizon wanna be available from Millinicom. Internet store, no sticks n bricks. $90.00 for 20 gigs. Not lightening fast, but, if I am ON, I am happy.
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Old 09-19-2014, 10:42 AM   #4
1retired06
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Enjoy full timing. We did.
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Old 09-19-2014, 11:25 AM   #5
bigskyjimmy
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We did the same thing with our house and stay at our membership only resorts for free or 10 bucks a night if it is not our Home Resort and also we have the Verizon Jet Pack as well and you are right 5G does not do it for 2 of us so we went with 10G for the 80 bucks and if you do not watch too many videos etc.. it works about right when we get up to 9G's we start being carefull and if we have to we get the park Wi-Fi for a few days for a couple of bucks, To US Verizon is well worth the bucks we get it pretty much everywhere and it is fast, some things we will not skimp on and Wi-Fi and our Dish tailgater are 2 of them .....Oh and by the way good luck with your kid taking care of the house we screwed up and trusted our Kid and Well that did not work out too goodand just sold the house NOW we are FREE
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Old 09-19-2014, 12:18 PM   #6
8.1al
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We switched from Verizon to Millenicom (http://millenicom.com/) a year ago. We are have 20gb/ month for $89.99, no extra fees or taxes. Download speeds generally run 10-12 mps. Higher or lower depending on the area and whether or not 4g is available
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Old 09-19-2014, 12:50 PM   #7
rames14
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Second the Winegard Trav'ler. We've had it over five years issue free.
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Old 09-19-2014, 02:09 PM   #8
Bigboomer
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Congrats on your new chapter.....we love full timing and would never look back!

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Old 09-19-2014, 02:20 PM   #9
Art-n-Marge
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Appreciate the replies... I guess I gotta look up Millenicom (never heard of it). Yes, I love Verizon quality, so that's a concern too. Because of the new data rates limitations of wireless we struggle with 10Gb, 20Gb could help. I used to monitor our usage at home and with Netflix, Pandora, online gaming, online puzzles, the grandbabies playing their online games (yup, even at their ages, 4 grandkids all under 5 years), we were around 40 to 50 GB unlimited on Verizon Fios. Fios with wireless was $70 month and that's with me running wires for two computers, and the printer (network printing, too) directly to the router.

bigskyjimmy - our fingers are crossed, but we hope they remain God-fearing, churchgoers and continue living the clean life they are teaching their kids. We stay close by and we love spending time there, so it's all good. Plus, they are getting FREE utilities to help them out and save more. If you live in the hot Southern California area and are aware of the rental and home prices and cost of utilities, it will help you understand the deal they are getting, because they are very aware of how good they've got it.

I'll need a DirecTV autodish and prefer one with HD for when I swap out the glass tubes for flat screens (the receiver is already HD capable). I use an IR remote receiver to operate the BR TV using the same receiver with the two different TVs. I even reprogram the satellite remote to use the different TV volume/power controls depending where we are. One of these days, I may break down and get a second receiver for the BR TV.
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Old 09-19-2014, 02:33 PM   #10
Jay Bird
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Congratulations Art and Marge on the new chapter of your life.
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Old 09-20-2014, 03:37 AM   #11
DarMar
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Congrats!! Wish for you many years of enjoyment from your new lifestyle.
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Old 09-20-2014, 01:49 PM   #12
Art-n-Marge
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Great... already the trouble starts... Camping at TT and we get rain, over 100 degrees and it not only rains, the wind kicks up so quick, I had to race outside to furl the awning. Too late. This old awning got furled but with all the flapping around during the wind, the cover is starting to separate from the underlying fabric. I guess that's what happens to old awning. The awning is so sunbeaten, the outer vinyl is separating from the main fabric since it's so dried out and weatherbeaten. Fortunately it's not much but enough to make me quite angry.

The awning will extract and retract for now, but it sure looks angry. I guess a new awning will be in our future. Nothing like full-timing to find out what is really put together well and what lacks in strength and quality. I will probably remove some of this loose outer covering so that driving around doesn't make it worse, Bah!

Admittedly I do like the full-timing (been doing it since mid-June), and know these things will happen, but one must ALWAYS stay on guard. That's okay, because it will keep my retired mind sharper than sitting in a stickhouse watching the "telly". I've even had to help a few people in these RV Parks with some tricks and tips I've learned here in the MOC. They think I'm brilliant, but the MOC gets most of the credit.
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Old 09-21-2014, 07:57 AM   #13
bigskyjimmy
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On our first class A we had he same thing happen and went and bought some clear Awning tape from Camping World and it works really good till you can get a new Awning
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