My only requirements are:
- 2 Lines
- US Cellular
- Talk & Text (data is completely optional)
(snip)
Can anyone help?!?
Nope. Your US Cellular requirement leaves you stranded with.... US Cellular. $75-80/month is probably the cheapest you're ever going to get out of them for two lines. Knowing this opens an opportunity, however...
US Cellular has prepaid plans (unlimited talk and text with data) starting at $40/month for feature phones. If you're stuck paying around $80/month to them anyway and you're okay with feature phone functionality for the most part, switch to prepaid on your handsets as you'll get more for the money (do ask about any additional taxes, however). It also opens up the option for you to try another carrier while leaving his carrier safety net intact so you can either show him it might not be so bad to leave or his concern can be established without leaving himself. As for which carrier would be the best for your area? I'll help do map analysis for you, but I would suggest you PM me your location details instead of posting a ZIP code publicly if you care about privacy.
I also want to remind you that so long as there's a compatible cell tower, even if you don't have service on the native network... 911 calls can and will go through. This means that if you
did happen to leave for a Verizon or Sprint MVNO and an emergency happened in that particular state park you speak of, that phone could still reach the local PSAP through the US Cellular network as both the phones and the functional network are all CDMA. You wouldn't necessarily be able to make personal calls, but...
Regarding your confusion between recommendations on certain providers, don't be. Pick the expert that seems to know what they're talking about and that you trust and listen to them.