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Old 06-21-2012, 09:35 PM
 
7,150 posts, read 10,898,467 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blauskies View Post
Maine is nice during the summer, but winter, no thanks.
Wuss

(but note I don't live there anymore)
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Old 06-21-2012, 09:44 PM
 
7,150 posts, read 10,898,467 times
Reputation: 3806
Quote:
Originally Posted by C2ShiningC View Post
I actually had started typing, "with the exception of people like nullgeo or .highnlite who don't live in metro California" or something to that effect, and deleted it as I had already written a lengthy tome. Of course, not all of California is like that, and yes, I would love to move to the central California coastal region if I did come back, I love that area, as well as Santa Rosa where I applied for a job once just because the area was so beautiful. That is why I said there are pros and cons to all areas, and one is not better than the other, just different. I wasn't insulting California or the people who live there, I was pointing out differences, and the ease of finding nature in New Hampshire (not Vermont) versus essentially the metro areas of California. According to this site, 90% of Californians live in metropolitan areas, with 65% in the Bay area and LA area. The majority of the population has the type of access to nature I described, at least they do in SoCal.

It's really hard to write something that isn't going to be looked at as a blast against California. My post wasn't a blast against California, I love California and miss it. CAVA's post reminded me again of what I've wanted to put into words for a while, so I did. California is a beautiful, unique place, very different from New Hampshire, with abundant places to explore nature. The difference between my experience in being in nature in California versus New Hampshire is that I don't have to drive to it, I'm in it all the time. That's all.
Oh, much as I love California, I absolutely gives props to N.H. ... but especially to the Maine coast, which is much more user-friendly than California for sailing, kayaking, fishing ... the abundant navigable rivers and streams -- read: kayak and canoe navigable -- plus the endless wilderness lakes ... whoa, Maine kicks butt ... N.H. White Mountains aren't the Sierras? No, certainly not ... yet they leave nothing lacking for me ... much of my favorite hiking was there -- and in Washington State as well. And, speaking of Washington State, where I live in the San Juan Islands about 4 - 5 months a year is incomparable with anyplace in California for a boater ... and certainly nothing lacking in the Cascades and Olympics for hiking and mountaineering and general wilderness.

But then there's the weather thang! Heh ...
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Old 06-22-2012, 12:29 AM
 
Location: Vancouver, WA
8,214 posts, read 16,700,075 times
Reputation: 9463
Quote:
Originally Posted by nullgeo View Post
Oh, much as I love California, I absolutely gives props to N.H. ... but especially to the Maine coast, which is much more user-friendly than California for sailing, kayaking, fishing ... the abundant navigable rivers and streams -- read: kayak and canoe navigable -- plus the endless wilderness lakes ... whoa, Maine kicks butt ... N.H. White Mountains aren't the Sierras? No, certainly not ... yet they leave nothing lacking for me ... much of my favorite hiking was there -- and in Washington State as well. And, speaking of Washington State, where I live in the San Juan Islands about 4 - 5 months a year is incomparable with anyplace in California for a boater ... and certainly nothing lacking in the Cascades and Olympics for hiking and mountaineering and general wilderness.

But then there's the weather thang! Heh ...
Yeah, I hear ya Null! No place is perfect. But the PNW is pretty darn close From Spring though Fall. We just got back from family vacation to Oregon and Southern WA. The place is out of this world beautiful in the Spring! I've seen some pretty incredible pictures of Maine also. Haven't been there yet. I'd like to go in the Fall for the Fall colors and lighthouses. Here's a few from our recent trip up toward your neck of the woods.











If we didn't have family in CA there is a good chance we would be living in Portland instead of Monterey. But then you are right about that pesky weather thing. My wife wasn't sure she could handle it. The grey might get to her, especially in years with longer periods of consecutive days without sun. I think I'd manage ok because I like to do activities in rain like hiking, etc... Regardless I still really love vacationing there.

Derek

Last edited by MtnSurfer; 06-22-2012 at 12:37 AM..
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Old 06-22-2012, 12:47 AM
 
Location: Vancouver, WA
8,214 posts, read 16,700,075 times
Reputation: 9463
Quote:
Originally Posted by C2ShiningC View Post
I actually had started typing, "with the exception of people like nullgeo or .highnlite who don't live in metro California" or something to that effect, and deleted it as I had already written a lengthy tome. Of course, not all of California is like that, and yes, I would love to move to the central California coastal region if I did come back, I love that area, as well as Santa Rosa where I applied for a job once just because the area was so beautiful. That is why I said there are pros and cons to all areas, and one is not better than the other, just different. I wasn't insulting California or the people who live there, I was pointing out differences, and the ease of finding nature in New Hampshire (not Vermont) versus essentially the metro areas of California. According to this site, 90% of Californians live in metropolitan areas, with 65% in the Bay area and LA area. The majority of the population has the type of access to nature I described, at least they do in SoCal.

It's really hard to write something that isn't going to be looked at as a blast against California. My post wasn't a blast against California, I love California and miss it. CAVA's post reminded me again of what I've wanted to put into words for a while, so I did. California is a beautiful, unique place, very different from New Hampshire, with abundant places to explore nature. The difference between my experience in being in nature in California versus New Hampshire is that I don't have to drive to it, I'm in it all the time. That's all.
I understand what you are saying regarding the differences you are experiencing. And I don't disagree with that at all, especially compared to where you moved from. I'm sure its quite beautiful there. Please post a picture if you feel so inclined. I'd love to see some of those trees. I was simply trying to show another side of CA beyond that bleak picture that many associate their experience with. There are huge slices of the state which are quite beautiful in which you can have very similar things with great natural beauty all around. The real trick is finding a niche, a job in those areas or if you are retired the right community. But its doable for many. They find a way or possibly a bit different way to make a living. Some telecommmute to their old jobs. Others find a local job while still others decide to go into ranching, buy a vineyard, etc... I had my eye on the Central Coast for quite some time before finding the right opportunity to move our family out here.

Derek

Last edited by MtnSurfer; 06-22-2012 at 01:09 AM..
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Old 06-22-2012, 01:00 AM
 
9,961 posts, read 17,524,172 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by .highnlite View Post
I read a study some years ago. People where shown photos of different landscapes. The landscape most appreciated was of grasslands spotted with trees, like east Africa. Lending some support to the idea that that area was where we evolved. I observed yesterday, the exact same sort of landscape through Santa Barbara County. The rolling golden hills of California, grasslands dotted with oaks. Generally we appreciate the landscape where we became aware. I know people who consider the Central Valley a lovely landscape.
That's sort of interesting to me. As a kid I grew up in the Santa Cruz Mountains--in a pretty dense forested area full of pines and with some redwoods scattered around. Very beautiful area--and today I live in the very densely forested Pacific Northwest in Portland. But I'd always love to go out to my grandparent's home out in the dry scrub oak landscape of the Sierra Nevada foothills above Lake Oroville. When we'd go out on the lake and around the oak-covered hills for some reason I'd always imagine that was sort of what Africa looked like. Sometimes as a child I'd even pretend I was in Africa.

While I love the lushness of some of the coastal ranges further north, I'd always feel somewhat nostalgic when I'd pass through the Central Valley and drier foothills. There was something about it that I always liked. One of my favorite images of California is some of the landscape down Highway 101 in the interior valleys of the Central Coast. I have an image of an old Spanish Mission with golden hills in the background. It's sort of a pastoral scene that seems to represent old California to me in a way.

Last edited by Deezus; 06-22-2012 at 01:54 AM..
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Old 06-22-2012, 01:51 AM
 
7,380 posts, read 12,670,445 times
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Grasslands with live oaks--I love that landscape, too! Throw in some rocks here and there, and hills in the distance. And it may be an atavistic, archetypal memory from when we were all Africans (great theory), but personally I think it was because I watched a ton of TV westerns when I was a kid, and they were all shot around Agurra and Thousand Oaks! In a way that was the scenery I grew up in, although it looked very different when I looked out the window.

I just read the entire thread--very entertaining! I came to SoCal many years ago from a very far-away NE place, and I have never wanted to move back. I do, however, love every minute we're able to spend in North Idaho.
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Old 06-22-2012, 09:17 AM
 
Location: SW MO
23,593 posts, read 37,479,020 times
Reputation: 29337
Good Humor truck. Are there any left?

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Old 06-22-2012, 11:39 AM
 
1,271 posts, read 2,593,769 times
Reputation: 642
Quote:
Originally Posted by Curmudgeon View Post
Good Humor truck. Are there any left?
The truck used in the movie is actually down here, this guy bought it and restored it back to original Good Humor appearance.

Man enjoys restored cool ride | Ocala.com



Cheech and Chong: save the whales - YouTube
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Old 06-22-2012, 12:56 PM
 
Location: Idaho
260 posts, read 656,872 times
Reputation: 214
MtnSurfer, you taunt me with those pictures The last one especially makes me home sick .

Deezus, the Santa Cruz mountains are one of my favorite areas in Cali precisely because it reminds me of the dense forests where I was raised in Oregon. Unfortunately, we can't even begin to afford the cost of living there. We tried years ago to live in another area with high cost of living, but failed. Santa Cruz's cost of living is even higher.

And while I do find grasslands dotted with live oak very attractive, I prefer the dense conifer or conifer mix forests I grew up with. There is just something about it that just enlivens me. My mother said I would stare up at the conifer trees even as a little baby, I don't know how far back I remember, but I do remember doing that as a child. I still get that same sense when I'm in dense conifer forest, It's wonderful and I miss it.
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Old 06-22-2012, 01:13 PM
 
Location: Vancouver, WA
8,214 posts, read 16,700,075 times
Reputation: 9463
Quote:
Originally Posted by YellowHorse View Post
MtnSurfer, you taunt me with those pictures The last one especially makes me home sick .

Deezus, the Santa Cruz mountains are one of my favorite areas in Cali precisely because it reminds me of the dense forests where I was raised in Oregon. Unfortunately, we can't even begin to afford the cost of living there. We tried years ago to live in another area with high cost of living, but failed. Santa Cruz's cost of living is even higher.

And while I do find grasslands dotted with live oak very attractive, I prefer the dense conifer or conifer mix forests I grew up with. There is just something about it that just enlivens me. My mother said I would stare up at the conifer trees even as a little baby, I don't know how far back I remember, but I do remember doing that as a child. I still get that same sense when I'm in dense conifer forest, It's wonderful and I miss it.
Hey YellowHorse, sorry to taunt you so!!! Man, if I grew in the PNW I know I would be thinking about it too, especially this time of the year. Some friends of ours from Oregon lived in Monterey for a while. And although they enjoyed the area while here, for them there was no place like home. Actually the husband's family is from there, not the wife. But she likes it up there as well. Anyway they moved back over a year ago and are really happily livin' the PNW lifestyle now. So I agree with the notion that there is no 'One Size Fits All.' If the PNW is home to you then your heart may be there as well. Hopefully you can return some day if that's what you really want. There are certain things you just come to realize on a gut level in terms of where you belong. Though work and other responsibilities can make it a challenge to get there at times.

Here's one more to give you your daily PNW fix. Does anyplace have more shades of green with hundreds gorgeous of waterfalls all around it?




Derek

Last edited by MtnSurfer; 06-22-2012 at 01:24 PM..
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