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I have cycled through California on a few occasions, and here I remain. I think the smart ones were the ancestors (g-g-grandparents) who left the east and the south in the 1880's and 1890's and came west.

Not only is California the land of "Fruits and Nuts" (literally and figuatively), the central valley was also an import cotton-growing area. You can still see the old cooperative gins along Highway 99 in Kern and Fresno Counties. Some are still in operation, I believe. My ancestors came west and became involved in walnuts, citrus, and other fruit orchards. A lot of the cotton land in Kern County was replaced with almonds, in part because the land was owned by Tenneco (Tennessee Oil Company - it was oil country as well), which had an interest in the Blue Diamond company. It seems like everything these days is being put into grapes - table and wine varieties.