The most unfair part about California, is that good winter skiing is 1hr away, and at Big Bear, 3hrs away, you have outstanding powder-type skiing. When I lived on the East Coast, I skiied at Sunday River and a bunch of other smaller places, and there was ice, ice, and more ice. Big bear is generally powder, powder, powder...totally different. I definitely found West coast skiing far superior to my East coast experiences (although I didn't do the biggest East coast ski resorts, which I'm sure are outstanding.)

I love CA because it's so freakin' nice. I also hate CA because it's so freaking nice and very few people who lives here really appreciates it.

Our air quality sucks. That's why we ride our road bikes into Malibu mtns by beachside - it's probably cleaner than the vast majority of places to ride since it's so high and isolated....