Ha! Mr. Inspectorette are in that boat. We live on the Central Coast of California, about an hour north of Santa Barbara. About eight years ago, we bought a little house on the Central Coast of OREGON, where we are planning to retire in about 3 1/2 years.
We've already decided we're not gonna sell our house here until we've lived in Oregon a couple of years and are sure we want to stay there.
I sure agree with you about the "physical, God-given beauty", but it seems as if the same nutjobs that ruined California are now busy destroying the Pacific Northwest (Washington State, too - awesomely beautiful, but they've got (ugh!) Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, almost as bad as Boxer and Feinstein :-(
My husband, whose parents and a brother now live in Oregon, agrees with you 110%. Warped.