Santee Lakes Home

We feel at home already!  We have the same spot we had last year and some of the same neighbors as well.  The folks at the registration desk recognized us and gave us a hearty welcome back.  We had some mail waiting that had been forwarded so I would say we are pretty well set for the next three months.  

I am so excited - my computer recognized the WIFI signal and I had an easy sign on.  My phone, on the other hand was a bit contrary and Roger had to set it up for me.  What this means is I can now finally answer the long emails from friends, post more than a paragraph in the journal, and do some shopping and banking!  I could do it all on the phone with the cell coverage when we were in El Centro, but it was slow and cumbersome.  I am glad to be back into the fast paced world!!  

PBS - how we missed you!  It was so nice to turn on the TV and have it come up on the channel lineup.  I won't miss Masterpiece now!! 

We left NAF El Centro at 50 feet below sea level and 70 degrees.  In less than one hundred miles we were at 4000 feet and it was 55 and very windy where we stopped at a casino for lunch.  When we reached Santee which is at about 200 feet above sea level it was 79 degrees and no wind.  What a nice welcome!  Next week the weather supposed to be not so nice - 60s - so we really are appreciating what we have now.

The parking lot of the casino where we stopped for
lunch - along with lots of other RVs!

There were lots of folks on the road today!  It didn't dawn on us that the first of the month was the last day of a long holiday weekend. There were lots and lots of cars and RVs. The RVs were mostly heading west and were what we call toy haulers -  they have a "garage" to store ATVs, motorcycles, etc.  Near the Arizona border are the Imperial Sand Dunes and apparently LOTS of people take their ATVs and have fun in the sand.  Well, they were all headed back home today!  

Border patrol station along I-8 

We encountered a Border Patrol check point on I-8 which normally means waiting in lines of traffic while the cops decide who to hassle. Fortunately, the border patrol just waved people through today.  We saw one car being searched but if they had stopped everyone or even half of the vehicles, the line would have been backed up for miles!  

We have three months to think about what we want to do next year for wintering.  We have come up with a couple options, but we need to think it all through and make sure we will be happy.  We have some ideas for making technological life better in El Centro and how to get mail, but no final decision has been made. The big draw for El Centro is it's CHEAP.  $300 a month and the electricity is free compared to more the $800 a month here in Santee plus $40 a month for electricity and $20 for Maggie.  El Centro is 7 miles from the base and doesn't have much to offer by way of shopping/entertainment/sigtseeing so we saved a bunch of money there, too.  Got to think about this.

We are happy to be here and looking forward to all the things the area offers to keep us occupied as well as being able to visit once in a while with our granddaughter who is in college in Long Beach.  Hopefully we will have some adventures to write about. Lunch at Rubio's tomorrow- YES!!