We hope all of the other states don't take offence to this, but (to date) California is our favourite U.S. state, hands down. Not that we would like to live and work regular hours here (I mean 10 days annual holiday, are you kidding?!?). We were very lucky to spend nine months living here, whilst Gill slaved away working unsociable hours, I lounged by the pool and ate thousands of Hot Pockets ... pure bliss!

The variety of National Parks and ski resorts makes this state a travel and adventure playground. We had such a good time up at Lake Tahoe that there's a separate page needed to describe those locations.

California's major cities are very iconic and have a unique culture (multi-culture would probably be a better way of describing it). The weather is glorious which makes for very enjoyable outdoors living. Even on a rainy winters day, you could be happy in the knowledge that it would be snowing in the mountains. Yippeeeee.