I’ve had a couple people mention that they have no idea where we’re currently at or where we’re headed, and that’s entirely our fault with the recent radio silence.  To quell the rumors that we’ve fled the country with Immigrations nipping on our heels, I’m here to set the record straight – we’re currently in sunny Santee, California.

The radio silence is due largely in part to a few little things.  The new RV came with a lot of new projects – solar install to provide electricity while we’re off the grid without running the generator, a chassis bracing welding project to fix a known issue with the coach from the manufacturer, getting our cellular and data setups working for remote use, and just making it livable for us.  There’s also the holidays to contend with, a family wedding in Minnesota, adjusting to Southern California, and of course my nutty travel schedule.  I’m not claiming that they’re GOOD reasons to drop off the grid, but reasons nonetheless.

We’re staying at a great RV resort called Santee Lakes, about 15 miles east of downtown San Diego.  30 minutes to the ocean, an hour up to Mount Laguna and snow.

We spent a week up in Carlsbad pre-RV, and during that time we drove around and visited every RV park in the area.  Lots of disappointing places, a really nice place down in Chula Vista, and Santee was our last stop – definitely the nicest place in the San Diego area.  A chain of lakes filled with a large variety of wildlife, large RV sites, friendly neighbors, and very quiet for the most part.  A lot of the folks staying here have come here year after year – a sure sign of a great place to stay.  We have neighbors from Denmark, Oregon, Arizona, Iowa, all over the map.

We’re planning on staying here until Mid-March, then we’ll slowly begin working our way up the state, some “boondocking” (living in the back country with no water/sewer/electrical hookups) with a big loop up to Tahoe and back down for next winter.

Our first stop will be around Lake Isabella, then Sequoia National Forest, Sequoia National Park, Yosemite National Park, Truckee (my cousin Steve lives there), Lake Tahoe, Mono Lake, Devil’s Postpile National Monument, Mammoth Lakes, Death Valley National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, then back here to either Santee or Palm Springs.  Lots and lots of planning to do!

Rough 2012 Route Map Here on Bing Maps