Well I have 3 characters all in mid 30's level. I've won both sides of the civil war (things start to go sour if Ulfric wins though) I've had one character play though the throat of the world quests, is trying to hammer out a truce to stop the fighting.
I'm ticked that the Thalmor have zero time or patience for another high elf, or imperial.
In fact I'm about ready to go Rambo on all of the Thalmor period.
Tried bringing 1 character up as pure mage, but it takes a bit more forethought and planning.
Loving working my smith/enchanting skills up till I can make Dragonscale light armor with dual enchantments on each piece.
Fav mods, essential horses, unlimited Amulets, and no perk pereq's.
Yes the horses are a bit overmodded in Skyrim, they will go places that a mountain goat would think twice about. As to the Amulets, in theory, a person should be able to wear 8 rings and hang as many amulets and necklaces around their neck that they are willing to put up with (Mr T style)
But mods imo won't really kick off till they release the creation kit. Then look out.
As for not seeing dragons, look for dragon resting spots on your hud. Normally they are at the top of a mountain, have a resident dragon, and a word wall. Many you'll have to work though another dungeon to reach, or be seriously good at riding in rough terrain.
Once you have cleared them, give them a week and fast travel back, good chance another dragon has taken up residence.
Also you can use console commands in PC version to spawn dragons. PM me if you need help.
I don't even want to think about how many hours I've put into Skyrim in the last 3 weeks.
But its fun