Hi David,
It is a bit quiet CB wise around our neck of the woods but there are people out there if you persist for long enough. As for 'skip' conditions they vary wildly sometimes hearing nothing and other times being blasted from every corner of the globe!
For the upper HF bands (11m or CB included) the best DX activity usually occurs during daylight hours and can romp in during the 'greyline zone' just before, during and after dawn and again when the sun sets in the evening. Again this is not guaranteed but working the greyline can be exciting when conditions are good.
The other times of activity are during the 'Sporadic E' season usually allowing Continental contacts to be easily made and oftens occurs during the summer months as well as bursts around mid winter. Quite often these type of conditions continue throughout the day and well into the evening during the summer due to the shorter nights.
When conditions are great not only can you gain contacts into the Americas but also much further afield and that's part of the excitement of working those upper HF frequencies.
Three days is not long enough to experience the fun that can be had with
radio and we are no longer in the heady days of ninteen-clickety-click when everyone had a CB at their disposal. Back in the day a "Nineteen for a copy" always got you results but not so much nowadays depending on CB activity in your area. (Some areas are lucky with many local CB users.)
Worth giving it all a little bit of time there David and especially with the coming summer months where the activity should be much better especially for DX contacts.
I know that when I returned after a similar length away from it I was shocked at how quiet the bands were but my first summer saw me blasting into Europe which was great fun. It soon all quietened off though and as I had the
radio bug back by then I went on to take my Ham
radio licence. (As many here have done.) At least with those extra frequencies at your disposal there is always some sort of
radio activity whenever you feel like switching on the
radio.
Give it time, relax and enjoy it at your leisure as the
radio game often means you're in it for the long haul. Well worth it in the end for the indescribably good feeling you gain from a simple
radio contact.
Often some will pursue the path of huge antennas, beams, high power etc. to better enjoy their
radio activities but it's not always as helpful as seems. You'll still get 'dead' times and no amount of extra power in the world helps if you can't hear anyone out there.
As for your 'Muppets' mention with the '125' frequencies I wouldn't overly worry. You can clarify in but as this is usually FM frequencies you won't notice the difference on the whole. In fact you'd be hard pressed to find two CB users on the exact same frequency when you view the bands on a waterfall spectrum scope! (Similar examples are seen on FM modes elsewhere such as the 144MHz or 2m Amateur band.
)
We do live in a push-button/instant gratification world nowadays with a lot of activities but the
radio interest is still one of those that you should relax with much like something akin to fishing. Cast your line carefully, sit back and get ready for the inevitable action when you finally get a bite!
I wish you well there David.
All the best,
Victor