Heck, you're more like a North Nevadan than a Californian of any type. The invisible cartographic boundary separating you and I denotes very little.
You are right. Most of us that live here in the Eastern Sierra feel more like northern Nevadans than Californians. Before 1857, we were part of Nevada.
We shop in Carson City and Reno and most of our “big city” contacts are there. My daughter was in the Nevada Day parade in in Cason City 2004 as part of her junior high activities.
I live in North Florida in a conservative cracker county. I know exactly what you mean about north NV vs south NV. South Florida is another planet from our POV.