Your thoughts on California

[semperfi211]

Commiefornia, the land of fruits and nuts. I know with California politics the way it is it can be a big punching bag especially for conservative gun owners.
Has anyone here lived in or been stationed in Ca.? Do you have any family or friends in Ca. Have you ever vacationed in Ca. ?
I was stationed in Orange County Ca.(MCAS EL Toro) and loved it. I was a hours drive to go to the mountains, 15 min to Laguna Beach, 30 min to Newport Beach, an hour from Hollywood, a few hours across the desert to Vegas what more could a young guy want? and yes we did pleanty of shooting. We would meet at a friends house in Riverside and go out into the foothills and do some shooting.
In 2001 I took my wife to Laguna Beach for vacation and we had a blast. I took her to Newport, Venice, Hollywood we had a great week.
Last year we had a reunion in Garden Grove. It was great to see old friends, many have settled down in Ca.
I guess the point of this thread is with all of the natural resources and coast line and the mountains Ca. should be a great state, just goes to show you how politicians and illegals can ruin a potentially good thing.
I was wondering if there are any other members that have any personal experiences with Ca. ?

 

[Bigum1969]

I was born and raised in Huntington Beach.

Graduated from Cal State University Long Beach.

I used to scuba dive at Catalina and Laguna Beach, Ski Big Bear and Mammoth and play in the desert.

California has more natural beauty than any other state by far... there is not even a close second.

But the politics there and the amount of nutjobs make me glad to only visit and not live there anymore.

 

[jsharmon7]

The scenery is absolutely beautiful. The people I've met from California just seem...different.

ETA: Except for you Bigum...yeah, all but you.

 

[IndyMonkey]

I killed my first bear in Northern CA. Have been to several city's in central and souther CA.

It was ok for a vacation, the thought didnt enter my mind that I would like to move there.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

I was born and raised in Huntington Beach.

Graduated from Cal State University Long Beach.

I used to scuba dive at Catalina and Laguna Beach, Ski Big Bear and Mammoth and play in the desert.

California has more natural beauty than any other state by far... there is not even a close second.

But the politics there and the amount of nutjobs make me glad to only visit and not live there anymore.

Have you been to Hawaii? It is the most beautiful place I have ever been, or lived for that fact. I can say I have only been to the LA airport.

 

[sj kahr k40]

You have never been to Hawaii then. It is the most beautiful place I have ever been, or lived for that fact.

Haven't seen Hawaii yet but I was in St. Croix last winter, very nice there.

Back to the topic at hand, California, nice place to visit but I don't think I want to live there.

 

[NordicHeathenVinlander]

Been there... Dont care to go back.

 

[Armed Eastsider]

I can tell you that truck drivers HATE California. They have laws and regulations on everything.

 

[E5RANGER375]

family there, lived there during summers growing up, vacationed there, had to stop there several times on the way to Hawaii. Beautiful place effed up by hippies and mexicans. if they would all disapear in an instant it would still leave a mess that would take decades to clean up. best thing to happen to california is all of the far western southern portion to fall into the ocean and restart with the rest.

 

[pjcalla]

I have lived in Sacramento for a year, in the past. Didn't really care for it much. Too many Mexicans. It reminded me of Indy. Had a lot of farms (rice). It was hot, but it was a "dry" heat. I did like one thing about it though. It was about an hour to hour and a half drive to go skiing in Tahoe.

Northern California, on the other hand, is beautiful. Humboldt County and north. My brother went to school up there, and I visited him a few times. The cost is rocky, HUGE trees (redwoods), not as much traffic. Actually, my brother still lives up there in McKinleyville. He said it is much more conservative than the hippie college town just to the south.

I was actually in California twice this year. First was to go skiing at Squaw Valley (one of my favorite all time spots to ski) and Northstar over the new year. Second was to go to my brother's wedding in Petrolia. Petrolia is a very secluded town, it takes 1-1/2 hours one way to get to a grocery store. Petrolia is the start of the Lost Coast Trail, which is said to be the last part of the contiguous 48 that was mapped. My brother has hiked it, and said he saw seals that were curious because they have not seen humans before. Pretty cool. Anyway, Southern California can sink into the ocean, but I love the northern part of the state.

Have you been to Hawaii? It is the most beautiful place I have ever been, or lived for that fact. I can say I have only been to the LA airport.

Hawaii is very nice. Northern California reminds me of HI, the rocky coastline, etc.

family there, lived there during summers growing up, vacationed there, had to stop there several times on the way to Hawaii. Beautiful place effed up by hippies and mexicans. if they would all disapear in an instant it would still leave a mess that would take decades to clean up. best thing to happen to california is all of the far western southern portion to fall into the ocean and restart with the rest.

I agree.

 

[semperfi211]

With all of its coastline and and natural resources it could be a really great state. It is a great example of how politicians and illegals can screw up a good thing.

 

[jbombelli]

I was born and raised in Thousand Oaks. I moved to Indiana in 1990 at the age of 23. I have been back one time since, on business. I won't step foot in that state if I can possibly avoid it. It's a beautiful state, but full of retards.

 

[ArmedProgrammer]

Moved here six and a half years ago. Born in California - lived there _most_ of my life. Lived in the foothills near Sacto. when I left. Glad I got out - from a number of perspectives. Right thing to do real estate wise, right thing to do business wise, etc.

No question that natural resource wise, it is near the top of the list. I go there sometimes to visit family or on business etc. I STILL miss the Sierra Nevada mountains. Those of you who haven't been there truly don't know what you are missing...

THAT SAID... am I moving back? Uhh... NO! Coming out here was the right move. No question about it.

 

[ATOMonkey]

I have visited friends in LA and San Diego several times, and I liked it a lot. Lots of fun stuff to do, the people are pretty cool.

The laws and nanny state attitude really don't affect visitors much, since I'm a non-smoker that will spend most of my time going out to eat, going to the beach, skiing, etc.

It does affect the residents and businesses a LOT more though. If you're a fan of cars and hotrods, it can be really difficult to get them licensed, and a definitely more costly. Obviously the gun laws make you jump through a LOT of different hoops, which is a pain in the ass, and in general is more costly once again.

Taxes, social service, hospitals, police, etc etc etc are obviously things that affect residents and business much more than tourists as well.

So, I say go ahead and visit, but I wouldn't want to live or do business there.

 

[christman]

Been to Kali twice.

First occasion we received over 300 dollars in parking tickets in 2 days at Huntington Beach because our car was blocked in by a construction dumpster after we got out from a LEGAL parking spot. Pleaded my case over a 6 month span and finally got the tickets thrown out.

Second occasion I was involved in was an attempted mugging by knifepoint at a hotdog/railcar restaurant somewhere down in L.A. after hitting some tourist spots like the walk of fame etc... I say attempted because the smart crook tried robbing me without scouting his surroundings. (Mostly, the 6 cops eating hotdogs about 50 feet away.) I shoved him down, they came down in a hurry and secured both of us in cuffs just to find out from other witnesses with me that he was trying to rob me. (Is it surprising that he was Hispanic and one of the officers had to speak to him in Spanish?)

Can't say I have a good reason to go back.

 

[Colt556]

Been to Kalifornia several times. The 1st was when I met my squadron, VA 146, at NAS Lemoore in Central Kali. It WAS HOTTTT during the day and freezing at night. Go to work in a jacket, burn up at noon, had to wear gloves to touch the planes and then jacket back on to go home. Lemoore is near Fresno and is in the middle of farm country. Farms go on for miles and miles. The stars on a clear night were unbelievable!! La was 200 miles South and San Francisco was 200 miles North. Met my ship, USS Constellation, down in San Diego. That was one beautiful city! Sixty Eight degrees all the time and just gorgeous, before the invasion that is. Last time I was there it seemed like a foreign country. As a Travel Nurse my wife and I did a contract at UCLA. We lived in Westwood and walked to work. The best thing about LA was that you could go to other places, like Joshua Tree, Malibu, mountains, desert or beach easily. LA itself sux. Went to San Francisco a couple times. Similar to LA but colder. hillier and more crime. Close to the Red Woods, Seqouia and more mountains. Sacremento was nice. It's a beautiful state but is just so screwed up that I couldn't live there. Half of my collection is banned in the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia too.

 

[Cat-Herder]

MCRD San Diego, Camp Pendleton, 29 Palms. I had a great time in California!

 

[ATOMonkey]

Been to Kali twice.

First occasion we received over 300 dollars in parking tickets in 2 days at Huntington Beach because our car was blocked in by a construction dumpster after we got out from a LEGAL parking spot. Pleaded my case over a 6 month span and finally got the tickets thrown out.
...

We had our car impounded because it wasn't properly parked in LA. It was a gray area, IMO, but they are quick as hell to tow cars out there. $400 to get it out of hock.

 

[RomanDad]

Commiefornia, the land of fruits and nuts. I know with California politics the way it is it can be a big punching bag especially for conservative gun owners.
Has anyone here lived in or been stationed in Ca.? Do you have any family or friends in Ca. Have you ever vacationed in Ca. ?
I was stationed in Orange County Ca.(MCAS EL Toro) and loved it. I was a hours drive to go to the mountains, 15 min to Laguna Beach, 30 min to Newport Beach, an hour from Hollywood, a few hours across the desert to Vegas what more could a young guy want? and yes we did pleanty of shooting. We would meet at a friends house in Riverside and go out into the foothills and do some shooting.
In 2001 I took my wife to Laguna Beach for vacation and we had a blast. I took her to Newport, Venice, Hollywood we had a great week.
Last year we had a reunion in Garden Grove. It was great to see old friends, many have settled down in Ca.
I guess the point of this thread is with all of the natural resources and coast line and the mountains Ca. should be a great state, just goes to show you how politicians and illegals can ruin a potentially good thing.
I was wondering if there are any other members that have any personal experiences with Ca. ?

I live about 5 minutes from El Toro.

I've lived in California all my life.

Im on this board because I want out, and want to make sure the place I might move to isnt going to make me nuts as well....

 

[indyjoe]

I've spent almost a week in LA. I never want to go back. Downtown closes at 5. People never interact. They live in their cars. More tent cities than I expected.

I'm sure there are great places in California. LA isn't one of them.