Re exploring farther north ...
Nope. When I was searching for property many moons ago I was living 5-miles north-west of Sebastopol in a custom house (of someone else's design) on one acre. Loved the house but it was meant to be temporary. The weather there was perfect all year long ... not too hot in the summer, not too cold in the winter, and the low mountains to the west blocked the evening winds and fog from the ocean. I made a rule: every time I think I have to move, I must increase the acreage; and in that way, someday I would be forced into not moving as I could no longer afford more acres.
Recently I was seriously exploring land in southern California near enough to the ocean to get its cooling effect during summer but not so near that the price would be exorbitant. Also wanted a place with lots of trees and hills. Couldn't find anything that met all my conditions without moving much closer to the east side of CA which I also didn't want to do because it's too far away from friends and family.
I have a sister who lived in a small town which is a suburb of LA (though you wouldn't know it because it's still wall-to-wall houses). The climate there is perfect year around except for the cyclical period of a month or so that the Santa Ana winds come from the eastern desert through there every summer. From there, she and her husband moved to San Diego. The weather there would also be perfect for me but the place is too expensive for someone like me who wants a lot of land (because my inner self is country through-&-through and my best friends have always been dogs and horses). Her husband died of disease years ago and now she and her son live in a small island town off the coast of Oregon. I haven't been near there (for anything other than business, and that was always fun) but I'd bet I would hate the weather there -- summer lasting only a month if you're lucky -- so I have no plans to ever visit there.
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