Hey WashDad, me too- used to take the bus to Huntington-state side, of course.
I lived the first 40+ years of my life in CA; I don't remember being worried by earthquakes- though I do recall being awakened by the '71 Sylmar quake. As an adult, I can think back to earhtquakes where we ran to see the water sloshing out of the pool and watching, hoping it would not crack!
I also remember the fire season followed by the "rainy season" followed by the mudslide season- that was more scary than earhtquakes. We have loaded our cars in fire season both in NorCal and SoCal and even had a huge forest fire burn through our neighborhood- we were lucky, but neighbors lost homes and possessions.
Growing up in SoCal (I think of it that way now) was nice, orange groves, bus to the beach with friends, work at Disneyland, etc., but as an adult I headed north and discovered I like four seasons. And I learned that speed limit signs actually mean the maximum NOT the minimum as we do in SoCal.
In NorCal I learned that four season can be fun, and small towns with less traffic are more my thing. Having also lived in Canada, I can see the amazing scenery all over the west- from Utah's red mesas, to all of CA to the amazing sights in British Columbia. One good thing about BC/WA, no poison oak/ivy that i have seen
I had an opportunity to work in Newport Beach for about 6 months a year or two ago and it was really interesting to note that whilst i enjoyed it all, I had no interest in going back. With lots of family all over the state, visiting is good for me
