I was born and raised in Southern California. When it started getting bad there about the time I was starting high school my folks moved us to a small town (500 people) in Northern California in the High Sierra Mountains.
I met my DXH there. He was a small town boy so we settled down there. I loved living in the country and "living off the land" so to speak. My DMIL taught me how to garden and can the vegetables & fruits and make jams & jellies and all kinds of great things (I still miss her). So we grew our own veggies, fished & hunted for food (but also bought a pig & 1/2 a cow from a neighboring rancher). I made my own bread & of course everything was from scratch back then - no boxed foodstuffs - and sewed & knitted the kids clothes & sweaters. Ahh, the good old days!
I moved 2 hours away to a small city (about 118,000) in Nevada near the Calfornia border when we got divorced, both to finish college and get a good job. I'm still here and my 3 children and 5 grandchildren have all followed me and live close by. I live north of the city in a rural area (can't get the country out of this girl I guess).