There are two types of California in the movies, L.A. and San Francisco. They are both great cities so it’s not bad to have such a strong association; it simply isn’t the whole picture.
What really makes California great is its history, land, and people, not just the glitz of Tourist, C-A. When I’ve lived outside of California, people ask me what I miss and it’s actually a strange set of things that come to mind. Usually I say something along the lines of, “Every terrain I can think of is a four-hour drive away, the lack of humidity makes it so the bugs aren’t crazy, it only rains in the winter, and the best steak burrito you’ll ever have in your life is in a nondescript truck on the side of the road.”
Just take a visit to the rural parts of Northern California and you’ll walk in small towns dominated by trees that will make you feel more ant than human. In the winter, these towns are idyllic places that are perfect for renting a cabin and hitting the slopes for a few days. The villages are quaint and friendly and the shops seem warm and rustic. In the summer, there are national parks, rivers for canoes, and enough trails to discover new ones every week of the rest of your life. Yosemite is nationally renowned and it is indeed a beautiful place, but if you visit the real California, you will realize that the beauty of Yosemite is the rule and not the exception.
Going camping or hunting out there is like visiting nature squared. There is a seemingly endless scope of nature that has been a deep part of the American experience since 1849. I don’t think a lot of people outside of California know that even after more than 150 years, it still is possible to find gold in the rivers. There are plenty of venues that offer the opportunity to wade in a stream, pan in hand, and sift for gold.
Where there aren’t forests, there are hills. The hills of the central valley are covered by modern, but still winding, highways. Windmills may be the new green fad to other places in the U.S., but native Californians recognize them as natural parts of the landscape.
Avocados, pistachios, oranges, and artichokes are just some of the products that cost small fortunes in other states but are cheaper, fresher, and available from an old wooden stand off of every rural highway in the whole state. People who don’t live here and people who leave here don’t realize the cornucopia of fresh produce the state has to offer. There has been press about wine country and believe me, it is all true, but it should be just as famous that California is food country. If you’re a foodie that cooks, you can buy market fresh ingredients from anywhere. If you you’re a foodie that eats other people’s cooking, then there is no shortage of restaurants that serve great food simply because it would be physically impossible to spoil before it gets from the farm to the kitchen.
To continue that point, Taco Bell and Tex Mex are a sad cruel joke compared to the authentic Mexican cuisine available in the Golden State. Even when I took a trip to Mexico City, there are only regional varieties of Mexican food. In California, it becomes some sort of all-star venue; every great dish south of the border has had to claw its way on to the hand painted signs of the smallest taquerias. Do you remember those old Pace commercials where the cowboys would cast out the cowhand who brings the salsa made in New York City? As a Californian, I watched those commercials and murmured to myself that compared to the handmade taqueria stuff, grocery store salsa would be best used as a treatment for a skunked dog.
To write this post, I think the best thing to do to let people know about The Real California is to describe the place I knew as a child and try to explain what makes that different than the other places I have lived. In the summer, some thunderstorm didn’t ruin my baseball games then and it won’t ruin your golf games now. I took certain foods for granted, but I realize now that in other places, artichokes rival steaks in cost per pound. I went to the beach, the wilderness, and the mountains in a span of six months and the four-hour drive killed me. Now, I realize that it was a small price to pay to live on the best piece of Earth in the United States.
About the author: Patrick works out of the RE/MAX Gold Auburn and Roseville Placer County Homes offices in Placer County. Patrick’s experience includes helping countless clients purchase and sell homes in the region.
Image by Randy Son Of Robert
