So just where the hell are we?

Many people have asked us, just where do you live?

I figure to do that, maybe I can start with a little geography lesson for y'all.

California has a few different distinct areas. Northern California, The Central Valley, The Sierras, The Foothills, The Coast, The Bay Area, Southern California, and the High Desert.

Here's a map...

Using the map, I'll define the areas...

Northern California...generally everything above the line created by the elbow of the California border where it meets Nevada. Draw a line straight west towards the ocean and everything above that is Northern California. There aren't any very large populated areas, and it's got a lot of forest.

The Central Valley...highlighted well by the word 'California' on the map. Continues through to just south of Bakersfield, where the valley ends with the Grapevine, as it's called. The central valley is hundreds of miles of flat farmland. It is also home to some pretty nasty air, as the pollution from the large coastal cities blows east until it hits the mountains, and of course settles in the Valley.

The Sierras...the Sierra Nevada mountain range which runs from the Oregon border down into Mexico. Yosemite National Park is located on this range.

The Foothills...the area between the Central Valley and the Sierras, this is the area where we live! Lots of hills, temperate climate and below the snow line.

The Coast...rather self evident. Everything along the ocean above Los Angeles.

The Bay Area...all the cities and towns surrounding the San Francisco Bay. Kind of their equivelent to the Golden Horseshoe.

Southern California (coastal)...Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Hollywood, Long Beach, Santa Monica, Pasadena and then further south is Orange County with Anaheim & Santa Ana, and further south is San Diego and the Mexican border.

The High Desert...after crossing the Sierra Nevada range, you come into desert that's high. Then you hit Nevada.

Well I hope that helps a bit. On the map, is the town we live in...a tiny town called Coarsegold (originally Coarse Gold Gulch). The town is about 35 minutes drive north of Fresno. While the town itself is small, it is spread out, and where we live is called Yosemite Lakes Park (YLP in the area), a large spacious community to the SW of the town.

Our house is rented, and has quite a large amount of property, populated with rock outcroppings, trees, and a creekbed (active in late winter & spring).

Our house, 30576 Holiday Dr.

Amy's cat Taz exploring our front yard

Sunset at YLP

So there you have it, that's where we live. I'll post pictures of the inside of our house and of Coarsegold itself soon.