Spring is well underway here in Southern California and we can’t wait to get out on the road again! Within a few days we will be celebrating our first anniversary of retired life living the RV dream. Woo-hoo! It’s been quite awhile since my last post, so here is a quick update and a preview of our 2016 travels.

We spent a quiet winter in Southern California, alternating our allowed month-long stays at the Silent Valley Club with 10 days, or so, at other parks: Rancho Jurupa Regional Park, Mojave River Forks Regional Park, and Sam’s Family Spa. The main factor determining our choice of parks was to remain within a 30-60 minute drive of Redlands to allow Kim to more easily help with her parents and to spend time with family.

Winter weather was quite mild this season, with only a few heavy storms to ride out. Despite the active El Niño condition, most major storms passed far north of us, making for warm and dry conditions, locally. Here at Silent Valley Club (3,500 ft elevation), we had a few weeks of temperatures dipping into the low 20’s, a few episodes of heavy rain, and even a bit of sleet and snow. Despite freezing temperatures at night, daytime temperatures were generally well above freezing.

We weathered the cold weather in our rig with no problems, other than a frozen pressure regulator on our first night at SVC in December. After that, we insulated our external water hookups, filters, softener, and regulator and had no more problems. Had the forecast been for temperatures in the teens or lower, we probably would have unhooked and drained our external water system components.

We stayed plenty warm in our rig using a pair of small ceramic electric heaters and, at times, a blue-flame propane space heater. The blue-flame heater was much more efficient in propane use than our rig’s main furnace; We just had to make sure our trailer was well ventilated.

During the downtime this winter, we took the opportunity to reconnect with family and friends; schedule necessary medical, dental and veterinarian visits; and perform maintenance on our trucks and rig. Maintenance on our rig  and equipment included such glamorous tasks as: changing batteries in the smoke, carbon-monoxide, and propane detectors, as well as the tire pressure monitoring sensors; replacing covers on our entry steps; swapping out old sewer hoses for new; having our rig exterior washed and waxed; flushing and regenerating our water softener;

and replacing our water filters.

Throughout the winter, we kicked around many ideas for the 2016 travel season before deciding on the following general itinerary:

Our 2016 Travel Itinerary

We’re quite excited about getting out on the open road, again. We’re looking forward to revisiting some of our favorite places along the Northern-California and Oregon coasts and along Highway 395, as well as discovering new places to add to our favs-list. We’ve booked reservations over the major holidays and at key locations along our route, but some areas we will play by ear, particularly as we come back down Highway 395.

That’s all, for now – take care and stay tuned for further adventures!