Is anybody out there headed to Kilgore in March.
2022 March Texas Cabin Camp
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Good morning Ben. This is Jeffrey Reinhardt from Sitka, Alaska. It was tough having to leave Sitka AND go to Anchorage last summer, but you and the gang made it a very enjoyable experience. I’m looking forward to seeing you at the farm.
Where is the farm relative to city center Kilgore?
Blessings,
J
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Awesome! Yeah!
My farm is the triangle of land to the south of Hickory Grove Baptist Church, Kilgore:
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Tererific, I found an AirBNB about three miles away.
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Yeah, mama! I’m gonna waltz across Texas in March, El Paso to Kilgore. I was scheduled to attend camp two years ago in Nashville. Then Covid reared its head and I raised the question on the forum of what would be the contingency plan if travel restrictions arose. I ended in a debate with an infection control nurse regarding the possible ramifications of the pandemic, and ultimately the camp was cancelled, flights were shut down, and we have been facing chaos ever since. Thankfully things have normalized to a degree and I am thrilled at the prospect of driving to Kilgore in two months. Fun to come!
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I’ll be there! I went last fall and it was great! Switching instruments this time. Never a dull moment. I look forward to meeting you.
Bob
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I’ll be there! Looking forward to meeting you all. It’ll be a journey from ol’ California!
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Good morning EPJ, Bob and Eric, it’s nice to hear from some folks who are coming to Kilgore. I’ll be traveling down from Alaska. It will be a terrific opportunity to get off “the rock” (my wife, Patrice and I live on a rather remote island) for some fun in the land of ticks, chiggers and rattlesnakes. It will also be nice to be able to drive more than 13.5 miles (in a vehicle with wheels) on one compass heading.
Play fast and take lots of chances!!
Blessings,
Jeffrey
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Hi @jrhine62!
Wow… and I thought I had a long journey! I’m debating if I bring my relatively nicer guitar in a hard case on the plane or go with something relatively less nice in a gig bag. Either way, I’d try to carry it on, but I suspect the hard case is going to get nabbed by the airline and shoved in the belly (versus the more sneaky gig bag).
These are high class problems, of course, because I’m going to be bluegrassing with you all soon.
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Hey Eric,
I’ve traveled both ways ( carry on and checked baggage). I’ve always been allowed to carry my banjo on with me. I’ve been told that as long as your instrument is in a form fitted case carry on is not a problem. I purchased a case from Ross Nickerson that suspends your instrument HSC with foam blocks. It initially worked very well as it also allowed me to pack my clothes around the case, thus eliminating one piece of luggage. However, over the past six months, it has become increasingly more challenging dealing with TSA. On one trip they opened the entire case then just threw everything back in without properly repacking the instrument. That was a little unnerving. When I spoke with them regarding that situation they told me, in the future, to treat the banjo like it was a firearm, thus allowing me to be present when they opened the case for inspection. That worked well for the next few trips. However, over the recent Christmas Holiday I was told by TSA in Seattle that they would not allow me to be present for the inspection because they only allowed that for firearms and pets. I was eventually able to get them to let me observe the process. It all went well until I arrived back in Alaska without my Prucha Banjo. It was eventually found and sent to our local airport the following day. So…at this point I’ve decided to pull the trigger on a high end travel case and take my chances with carry on approval. The top prospect for me at this time is a Hoffee. I’ve looked at and spoken with the nice folks at Calton , the biggest hindrance with their case is the weight. It looks like the Hoffee carbon fiber case comes in about 30% lighter. That weight savings is a big issue with me, as I’m not getting any younger or stronger with the passage of time. If I was REAL smart, I’d just travel with a less expensive instrument; it’s just always taken me a little more time than the average bear to learn to keep my hands up when moving around in the ring. Regardless of which instrument makes the trip in March, I’m really looking forward to meeting new friends and learning to play with other people.
Play fast and take lots of chances.
Blessings on you and your family,
Jeffrey
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For an amusing, but sobering, diversion check out the YouTube posting by the Sons of Maxwell entitled “United Breaks Guitars”. Even when you plan to carry your instrument on the plane you face the risk that a full flight (the usual these days) and a late boarding position might result in finding full overhead bins and a requirement that you surrender your instrument for handling by the baggage gorillas, who seem to take delight in testing their own ability to launch items prodigious distances. In today’s market there are so many high quality, modestly-priced guitars, that I would be very reluctant to put a high-value guitar (or banjo) at risk. I have a Leho (a Chinese-built Larrivee clone) that set me back $500 and both plays and sounds like my more pricey guitars. Eastman and Recording King are making some very good guitars for less than $1000. I bought an Eastman flat-top from Ben’s Store recently for my grandson for about $300 which was an outstanding instrument for the price. Travel with a guitar such as this and any accident which befalls it will be sad, not tragic. Incidentally I am driving to the Kilgore camp and will bring my Leho and also one of my more valuable guitars. Looking forward to being there, learning, and having fun.
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Good morning EP, You’ve certainly nailed it with your post. Fortunately, I’m one of those gray haired folks that usually are allowed to board early. So at this time I’ve not run into a situation that required me to gate check an instrument. That could certainly change unexpectedly and that is why, until I get a higher end travel case, I’ll bring my less expensive banjo to Texas. It 's a nice sounding instrument and has played a nice role in allowing me to learn repair and maintenance without fear of damaging a more expensive instrument. My nest project with it will be installing 5th string spikes and dressing the ends of the frets to allow for smoother movement up and down the neck. I’m blessed in that our oldest son is a very highly skilled musical instrument repair and restoration guy. He live a couple thousand miles from home, but zoom and skype make learning opportunities pretty easy.
Play fast and take lots of chancess!
J
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@epjacobs This is truly convenient! I will be shipping my luggage and instrument to your home for delivery to the event. Kidding of course! 
Very much looking forward to meeting you all and playing – be it with my less expensive instrument or one more dear. Back to the woodshed to work through those 5 tunes!
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There’s a lot of room in my Subaru, Eric, so feel free. Jrhine, my hair that is still present is white, mostly gone, but my frugal nature still leaves me boarding with the pack, no early boarding. It also somehow allows me to buy guitars for several thousand dollars but get the shakes when looking at Calton or Hoffee cases for over $1200. If I had to regularly travel with an expensive instrument I would likely “change my tune”. And speaking of frugal natures, has anyone found a good price on lodging for the Kilgore camp in March?
So, at 75 I’m not old. I’ve just been young for a long time. Meeting will be fun!
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I’ll be making the return trip to Kilgore in March. Can’t wait! The one in November was a blast! And epjacobs, I stayed at the Kilgore Hampton Inn at the previous camp. Not too far from the farm and reasonably priced. I’ll be staying there again. I believe that there are several good hotel options in the area. I just happened to pick that one.
Thanks! I’ll look at it.
Dr Jacob’s,
If you don’t mind bunking with a non-retired board qualified orthopedist chiropractor who also happens to be the lieutenant of the Sitka Fire Department Rescue and Recovery Dive Team, I have reserved a two bedroom AirBnB about three miles from Ben’s farm. Give me call. My mobile phone is 970-261-2695. I’ll be finished with patients about 6:00 pm Alaska time, 5:00 pm in CA.
The 970 area code is correct
Best,
Jeffrey
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Safe travels. See you in God’s country!
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