Funny how a license plate question turned into a hate on California thread!! Most of us here don't like the politics but really, it's only the big cities that suck. Comparing the Indy 500 and other races back east really isn't really an argument. How many of you guys are racing right now or even driving your old cars? I see threads every year about the "last drive of the year" or "parked for winter". We never park our cars because of weather and I ride my motorcycles year round including road racing them which runs all year here. Yeah, California definitely has some major issues but if you are a car guy, you can't beat it.
You will love it here. Sounds like you are leaving for the same reason we did. The car activity here is top notch and very active from March to November. It is colder here than most of CA. We will be in single digits here in West TN and minus in Middle TN over Christmas so, be prepared. Humidity can be bad in the Summer too. We are in Henderson, couple hours west of Murfreesboro, come see us when yu get here and settled.