Home, Home on the Lake

Over the past 30 months, we've been fortunate to have stayed in some fine RV parks and campgrounds. One of the finest is our current home base--Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve in Santee, about 20 minutes from downtown San Diego.

After entering the Preserve, we drove about one mile on a paved road past five lakes. This section is a day-use park with picnic tables, playgrounds, barbeques, horseshoe lanes, volleyball courts, pedal boats, rowboats, and canoes.

After passing these lakes, we checked in at the camp-grounds' office. Then another one mile past two more lakes and we were at our site. (Shown in these photos are lakes number six and seven.)

The campground with its 300 campsites is beautiful--the grounds are extremely well-maintained. Park staff are very visible throughout the day--mowing, sweeping, and picking up.

There is more than ample space for picnics, play, and general lounging.






Work on larger projects is evident--both in completed projects and on-going ones. The park has more than four acres of solar panels, providing enough power to meet almost 50% of the entire park's needs.

One of the on-going projects is the building of seven cabins right on the water’s edge of Lake 7 and three more that are actually floating on the lake.

Another item on the "To Do" list is the restoration of the islands in the lakes.




The campground has three measured fitness loops: 1k, 3k and 5k.

Amid this beauty is a reason for a bit of "excite-ment." Notices have been distributed that read: "Please do not approach or feed any wildlife. Rattle-snakes are common in our area" and "Coyotes are active in Santee Lakes."

A stream runs through a portion of the camp-ground. Just to the right of the stream in this photo (right) is one of the most beautiful and serene campsites in the park.

We're already making plans to return.