Our Rig at Silent Valley Club

Well, it’s official – we are retired and living the RV dream!

The last two months have been a whirlwind of activity for us. We sold our house, established domicile in Texas, and turned in our two-week notice at work. Our last day at work was Friday, May 1st; escrow closed on our house, Monday, May 4th; and we turned over the keys to the proud new home owners on Thursday, May 7th. The last box has been unpacked and, miraculously, space was found in our rig for these few remaining items. We feel we can finally heave a sigh of relief and start to relax and enjoy our retirement.

We are currently staying at the Silent Valley Club RV Resort, a members only park located in the rolling foothills of Mount San Jacinto between the communities of Banning and Idyllwild, California. Located at about 3500 feet elevation, the Silent Valley Club is accessible by the steep and winding highway CA 243 and equally winding Poppet Flats Road.

The club is situated on over 460 acres of lovely park-like grounds which are dotted with outcroppings of boulders and forested with century-old live oaks, sycamores and other tree species. The club provides about 850 full hookup RV and tent sites and features many amenities: including family and adult activity centers, a general store, restaurant and lounge, snack bar, heated pools, spas and saunas, as well as many other indoor and outdoor facilities and activities.

We decided to join the Silent Valley Club after evaluating other local parks and finding them lacking for longer stays. We feel this park will serve as a good base-camp whenever we return to southern California to visit family and for at least some of the winter months. (Yes, they do get snow at this elevation!) We plan to stay here for the rest of May while we smooth out remaining details of our change of address, change of lifestyle, and to spend quality time with Kim’s family. May is a big month for us, in which we celebrate our wedding anniversary, Mothers Day, as well as the birthdays of quite a few family members.

Our Campsite at Silent Valley Club

May 9th – Today was a very nice day. The day’s highlight was when a couple of Kim’s friends, Laura and Eric, visited us and brought along their German Shepard, Bella. Bella, Jasmine and Pepper quickly became friends. We had a relaxing morning of visiting, taking the dogs for a hike and hanging out over lunch at the snack bar.

Kim and Jerry at Silent Valley Club