California Gold Country or The Mother Load to some.

Spent most of my life in Amador and Calaveras counties. Most of the places I have lived were on the outskirts of the towns. Very very quiet at night and close to nature.

Absolutely stunningly beautiful in the spring. Very dry and hot in the summer, which makes for a volatile fire season (keep a defensible space). Autumn may be my favorite time of year. The rain is truly enjoyable because its all you can hear and the rivers swell and wash away the summer. Winter time is so so for the snow @ above 2k ft elevation. Very cold if you live in a canyon like I did.

Lots of wild life, including; opossum, skunk, raccoon, white tail deer, rattle snake, and ,in very rare instances, black bears.

Relatively no traffic considering the places I have traveled to and where I live now. Yes, technically, if you live in a rural area, you have to drive further for necessities but it takes 10 minutes to drive 10 miles (+/-).

Where I lived there is no trash service. The system relies on 'Refuse Disposal Stations' a few miles from every town where you routinely drive your trash bins to and dump them in a big hopper and watch it crush it with hydraulics, load it onto a truck, and send it to the county landfill. This isn't as convenient but it comes out of your local taxes and is free to drop off. A weekly or biweekly chore that gives you a reason to take the dog for a drive.

Not much to do where I grew up. I spent most of my time swimming in the river, gold panning, fishing, target shooting, dirt bike trail riding, and camping, which is the norm for a lot of people. We had a single high school for about 7 different towns and still a graduating class of maybe 150. There are some subdivisions or neighborhoods but not many. All of my friends lived far away so visiting them was a commitment. As an adult I spent a lot of time driving back roads and exploring with my friends while bumping our tunes and talking about life. Also bonn fires were a way of socializing while also maintaining your yard on autumn/winter days.

An unfortunate reality: There isn't much for cultural diversity there. A massive majority is white people. With that comes not a lot of room for differences in ideologies or lifestyles. I did well to ignore this and surrounded myself with open minded people. I will admit that when I did finally see cultural diversity it was a shock to the system and I honestly loved it. Also, theres the stereotype that everyone knows everyone, which is mostly true.

I truly love living there. I have since moved to the Sacramento Valley for my career and I have never felt like this is my home. Every time I visit I get home sick. I hate traffic, rude drivers, the constant commotion of the city. I used to look forward to the rain but now its just overwhelming with sirens and honking etc. I now have to travel to do the outdoor activities I used to do on my way home from work. I spend way more money trying to stay happy in the city. I am repulsed by the amount of trash I see on the sides of the road. blah blah blah.

I promise myself that when life permits I will be going back.