I've never been to California, can you tell us about you climate, rainfall, wildlife, land prices, and anything else you can think of if you have time. Thanks. Nice pictures.
I live on the western edge of the Great Basin. I also live where the Sierra Nevadas and Cascade mountains converge. You can see Mt Lassen, a volcano if you drive across the valley. Our rainfall is pretty poor, we average about 14 inches of rain a year. Being situated at 4000 foot elevation we get basically get 2 seasons winter and summer. The wildlife is housed in the prisons, we have 3 of them here. 2 state prisons and a federal prison are the major employers of the region. Used to be lumber mills when I was a kid. I like to joke we traded a saw mill for a Starbucks.
Land prices are outrageous still, a 40 acre piece bordering me that is pretty much unproductive sold in December for $300,000. There are some foreclosures going on. But most are just poor business decisions by the home owners that paid way too much for houses in the first place.
Most of the cattle in the valley are just temporary residents. They spend the summers here and are trucked to Central Valley for the winter. The Crops we grow here are Alfafla hay for the dairies in the San Joaquin Valley. Strawberry plants for transplant all over the world. Endive for your bagged salad mix.
Big Swede, I have a niece going to school in ND that loves SD. I need to take a trip back there and check it out. A ag tour of Cali is worth it, we grow lots of things that only grow here.