Well said, CA Lady.
I live about an hour north of LA, 5 minutes from the beach and it is tee shirt weather 8 or 9 months of the year. We get a few weeks a year of weather in the 90's and a few weeks down in the 40's. There is morning fog a lot of times but it burns off by noon. The air is clean and the living is good.
The rest of CA is pretty awesome also. You can drive an hour north of LA and play in the snow, and later that same day lie on the beach and get tanned.
The highest point in the US (not counting Alaksa) and the lowest point in the US are only about 100 miles from each other, both in CA. Add in Yosemite NP, Sequoia NP, the coastal Redwoods NP, Lassen NP(with volcanic activity), Lake Tahoe (the worlds largest Alpine lake) and dozens of other natural attractions. Then add in SF, LA and San Diego and 1000 miles of coastline.
I could go on and on but I think you get the idea . . .

New guy here from Ventura, CA
How's everyone doing? Anyone from my neck of the woods?

Hi everyone!
It's my first post!

Thanks for all of the good quotes - I have a few hundred on my web page and I will add some of the ones that I got from here!

Thoreau is one of my favs so here is one for all of you:

"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestioned ability of a man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor." - Henry David Thoreau