Where in CA would you relocate to OR anywhere else? (Santa Barbara: to rent, house)

[deeptrance]

Originally Posted by greatbasinguide

The use of the term Dude denotes an urban young person without education. While it is fine for conversation it does not reflect a high level of literacy on the part of the user.

It reflects playfulness!!! I've got 14 years of university education and choose to say "dude" because I like it. Casual. Informal. Playful. How can you judge literacy on the basis of such trivia?

Originally Posted by greatbasinguide

We are actually Guides in the Great Basin. Hiking, Mtn Biking Vehicles and horse packing. Ely was rated 15 years ago by Outside Magazine as one of the 10 top communities in the nation for outdoors people.

I can see why. And this is one place you can pimp because it's definitely not in jeopardy of being overwhelmed by newcomers. The winters terrify most people, and the isolation is significant. Your job sounds great!!!! Great Basin, Great Job.

Originally Posted by greatbasinguide

Yes, the great basin is underrated. 3/4 of the people in Nevada live in Las Vegas, half of the rest live in Reno Carson, which leaves an area the size of Great Britain with just a few hundred thousand people. High mountains, great skiing, fishing, etc.

Yup. I absolutely loathe Vegas, although it's fun to observe simply as a spectacle. But most of the remote areas of Nevada are totally underrated and they'll probably stay that way.

What's your take on the recently christened Great Basin NP? I've not actually been into the park to explore it but it's a goal for some future trip. Must be gorgeous! I camped at the first campground on the left as you head east out of Ely (sorry, can't recall any more specifics but you probably know where I'm talking about) and it was PARADISE!!!

Now, back to my education. How many points will I be docked for each of the following:
- using the term "pimp"
- asking "what's your take"
- using smilies
- being an obnoxious twit who is poking fun at you for chastising my use of the word "dude"

[greatbasinguide]

First, Dude is a colloquilism. In talking to children, I may use the term Dude in references to say; Mohammed. However, I do not call them dude, nor do they call me dude. It has become a urban/surf term, but the original use in the Great American West, is that of a newcomer from the East, a person who cannot ride or shoot well. Calling a Westerner a dude, has resulted in the past in gunplay (California does not count as the West, although there are Western parts to Cal, it is, in the immortal words of Joanne Meschery, "a swamp thing clinging to the western edge of America).

Regarding Great Basin NP, it is a fine place, great hiking. The highest Peak in Nevada, but not Nevada's highest peak, the foregoing is a logic puzzle for students of Nevada geography.

The big problem with Great Basin NP is that it is too small, but even the smaller sized park only came about in the face of great opposition from Nevada Extraction Industries.

There are millions of acres of de facto wilderness in Nevada, only some of which is protected as wilderness. Senator Harry Reid was pretty courageous in going against his base to work for the wilderness we have. Don't know anyone's politics, but, in this issue alone, Harry Reid did a great job for Nevada and America.

The campground you stayed at, if it had a lake, was likely Cave Lake State Park.

Regarding the bottom of your post, using casual English, idioms, smilies is fine, but,, 'Dude' don't work for me.

[deeptrance]

Originally Posted by greatbasinguide

The highest Peak in Nevada, but not Nevada's highest peak, the foregoing is a logic puzzle for students of Nevada geography.

Well, you've got me stumped. Is there a pun in that? A trick question? A border thing (i.e., the highest point in NV being perhaps on the border of CA and technically not a "peak IN Nevada")?

Originally Posted by greatbasinguide

The campground you stayed at, if it had a lake, was likely Cave Lake State Park.

That was it, except not quite. Same road, but I was on the other side of the main access road from the lake campground, closer to the main hwy and on the -errr- west side of the road I guess it would be. Opposite side from the creek.

Originally Posted by greatbasinguide

Regarding the bottom of your post, using casual English, idioms, smilies is fine, but,, 'Dude' don't work for me.

Well, we all have our quirks, some loveable and some annoying, so I'll try to be less annoying if I notice you're in a thread. Your explanation of the source of "dude" is interesting. I recall staying at "dude ranches" when I was a child. Bless my parents, they would take us to such great places. My favorite was near Callahan, west of Mt. Shasta. It was so rugged and beautiful and isolated, especially 40 years ago when I was there. But anyway, it's funny that the term "dude ranch" seems to have a wry, harmlessly pejorative connotation considering the origins of the word. And therefore it's very appropriate to those ranches catering to those of us who wouldn't know the front end of a horse from its rear and have no business being on ranches unaccompanied.

[greatbasinguide]

The answer tot he trivia,, for all those breathlessly awaiting,, Boundary Peak at the north end of the White Mountains on the California border, is the highest, but of course it is only half in Nevada..

Callahan,,, a friend of mine, a woman, lived in Truckee, her husband cheated on her, so she left him and went up to Callahan to be a mule packer,, packing in those "dudes"

[SandyCo]

Interesting, both GBG and DT! I love thunderstorms, but not too sure about tornadoes. Besides, you can't have good thunderstorms without humidity, and I couldn't take it. You'll never see me living in Houston, for example! And I've heard good things about the Great Basin, but have never explored it.

If I were to relocate within California, I'd probably be in the north somewhere, north of Redding. I drove from Reno to Salem, OR on vacation recently, and I loved how green and beautiful north northern CA is! I read somewhere that California is actually 30% forest, but the majority of that is up near the Oregon border. I'd like to investigate Susanville, Mt. Shasta, Yreka, etc. Of course, I probably won't be able to move to any of these place until I retire unless I suddenly become independently wealthy. Guess I need to start playing The Lotto!

If I were to go outside of California, I'd probably go north to Oregon or Washington, and maybe Idaho. I don't like heat, I don't want to deal with several feet of snow each winter, and I can't stand humidity, so my choices in the rest of the U.s. are pretty limited! (Does anyone know how much it snows in some of the northern CA cities/towns I just mentioned?)

[deeptrance]

Originally Posted by SandyCo

Interesting, both GBG and DT! I love thunderstorms, but not too sure about tornadoes. Besides, you can't have good thunderstorms without humidity...

It doesn't have to be humid at ground level. The important ingredient is atmospheric instability (cold air above, lots of lift and just enough moisture for the rising air to condense into thunderheads) --- you get all that fairly often in the higher mountains of the Sierras and Trinity/Shasta/Siskyou areas.

Originally Posted by SandyCo

If I were to relocate within California, I'd probably be in the north somewhere, north of Redding. I drove from Reno to Salem, OR on vacation recently, and I loved how green and beautiful north northern CA is! I read somewhere that California is actually 30% forest, but the majority of that is up near the Oregon border. I'd like to investigate Susanville, Mt. Shasta, Yreka, etc.

We have similar tastes. Be sure to check out Quincy. Beautiful area, not as remote as it used to be because civilization is encroaching on every accessible part of the far west. They even have fall colors, thunderstorms, snow, and nice summers!

Funny you mention a lot of the same places I like. I think those are up-and-coming areas of northern CA. In the past they've been mainly redneck, impoverished places with the exception of Mt. Shasta Village. But this summer I spent a night in Yreka and thought to myself "I could LIVE here!" It's changing a lot and I think it will continue to blossom into a very nice community. It's close to Ashland (the Shakespeare fest, skiing, etc.) and an easy road trip to Shasta, endless wilderness areas, and Crater Lake. Winter is probably a bit rugged. I wonder if they get the same fog there that plagues Medford during much of the winter...? Maybe GBGuide knows the answer to these questions.

Originally Posted by SandyCo

If I were to go outside of California, I'd probably go north to Oregon or Washington, and maybe Idaho. I don't like heat, I don't want to deal with several feet of snow each winter, and I can't stand humidity, so my choices in the rest of the U.s. are pretty limited!

Yup. Can you prioritize which one of the things you "hate" you'd be most willing to deal with a bit? For example, Boise, ID, might be ideal for you if you just stay indoors during summer afternoons. It cools off nicely in the evening and the mornings are beautiful until the sun gets high enough to beat down on you like it's trying to kill you.

[SandyCo]

Well, I live in the San Fernando Valley now, and that gets very hot in the summer without the marine layer to cool us off. Usually, August and September are the hottest months, with high temps up in the 90s. Then we have our rare heat waves, like the one in July this year, when it was 119 degrees in Woodland Hills, and 112 degrees in Burbank! I kept the a/c on for five days straight, even at night. Otherwise it would have been unbearable.

So I guess I could deal with heat, especially if it cools off at night. I just couldn't imagine living in extreme heat, like Las Vegas or Phoenix, where it "cools down" to 90 degrees from a high of 115!

Thanks for telling me about Quincy. I'll be sure to check it out.

I work in investment banking as an assistant. I've checked to see where my company has retail branches, and they have offices up in Redding and Chico. I'm only 43, so I figure I have another 27 years to work (God willing that my health holds up!). Redding and Chico are pretty far from those places I already talked about, though. Maybe I need a career change! That can't happen until both of my kids are through college (they're 21 and 18 years old).

[deeptrance]

Originally Posted by SandyCo

Well, I live in the San Fernando Valley now, and that gets very hot in the summer without the marine layer to cool us off.

I grew up in So Cal (Santa Barbara) and have lived in Studio City. If you think the Valley is too hot, then forget about the REAL valley. Have you ever looked at the summer temps in Redding??? You have to get above 4,000 feet (at least) to get a climate as pleasant as the SF Valley in summer.

Plus, where you are, you can simply get in your car and drive a half hour to get to a different climate. Once you commit to the inland experience you're kinda stuck with the weather unless you are close to significant mountains. But then you've got only a couple choices for roads to get up to higher elevations to escape the heat.

So, if heat is your main issue, then rule out anything below about 3,000 feet and ideally you should look higher and farther north. But then you'll have to deal with winter. There's a very good reason why prices are so high along the California coast --- the climate is rare, few places on earth are so mild while also being in a country where the government is stable and there is a thriving economy. You might want to look into other countries if you really want to optimize climate. For example, high elevations at lower latitudes are primo. Check out Equador, Costa Rica, Kenya, South Africa....

[SandyCo]

I was astonished to see that their average high temp for July is 98 degrees, compared to where I am now at 78 degrees (guess that marine layer does have an influence, doesn't it?). Wow.

Since I don't have an interest in moving anywhere outside the U.S., I think living above 3,000 ft would work. A place like Quincy would be great; they only get a few inches of snow a month in the winter, on average.

All of this is just a dream, anyway. I can't go anywhere at the moment! It's nice to try to plan for my future, though. Thanks so much for all of your help and input, DT!

[deeptrance]

SandyCo, maybe we'll be neighbors someday. The more I think about Quincy, the more I think I'd like to live there!

Good luck in finding your ideal place.