Believe me I hear that. Its not easy raising a family of 5 out here on a single income & we're very much on our own. DH is used to moving around a lot & he struggles with the crazy politics here. He's definitely ready to leave. My kids are 5th gen so cal born on my side & the sage/fennel/salty air is in our blood (tho I struggle with a lot of the politics too.)
My brother lives in your area & its only a 7hr drive for me unlike the 22hrs it takes me to get up to my mom & sister in OR. Heck, that's close enough that my brother drove out here to babysit for me once when I was in a pinch.
Adorable!!!
My grandpa traveled around the state building parts of that aqueduct. At the time it was about the only legit work you could get out here. Its a cool thing to be able to tell the kids when we're on road trips & keep crisscrossing it.
To say the least, no way.

We've looked for years in IM's area & found a lot of great stuff, but haven't had the nerve to move that far from the ocean. We've looked up in WA. I love that area, but anything within a reasonable commute is not cheap either. Mostly now I look around Atlanta, GA, but I'm sure I'll end up staying here.