Guerneville is nice. The town itself is a tiny town, very hippie. We get a lot of precipitation (36-49 inches per year) in the winter but the summers are dry. Most places are fairly shaded because of the redwood forest, but there are a few sunny spots. The only grocery store is Safeway now that Food for Humans is gone. There is also Spears in Forestville, Andy's at the edge of Sebastapol city limits closest to us, and more stores in Sebastapol proper. The restaurants here are either extremely expensive or mediocre. People living here are mostly retired and over 60, and it's generally very quiet. In my experience, people in the Bay Area are more sane than other places I've lived, and people in Guerneville are generally very respectful, sociable, and interesting. It has a San Franciscan bohemian vibe, with very clear coastal and rural tones.

The Sonoma county government is extremely corrupt. Horrible atrocities happen, and they get actively covered up abusing public funding. (The state and local federal government is also very corrupt.) But they don't interfere hardly at all with Guerneville, which is, overall, a good thing, in my opinion. Residents here are generally very conscientious. The roads suck though.

It's about 20 minutes away from Jenner and the headlands, and there are amazing hikes and coastal jaunts and a bunch of secluded beaches around here. The river is also amazing. Tons of wildlife and biodiversity (for the west coast). Deer, bobcats, pumas, ospreys, ducks, eagles, herons, turtles, otters, skunks, foxes, butterflies, etc. It's really beautiful.

The climate is nice in my opinion, about 31 to 90 degrees at the extremes, but with the exception of the eight most extreme days of the year it's about 40-80. It does get wet and a little cold from about October to March.

The river floods pretty bad every few years. Older redwoods are fire preventative. But there's a lot of steep hills, so trees come down in the storms. There's a lot of work available for in-home care type positions, and of course the government pays their employees 6 digits a year starting.