When we lived in So California, we went to Redondo Beach, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach. Not to lay out in the sun, but just to walk around on the pier. Sometimes we celebrate my MIL's birthday at Ruby's Restaurant at the end of Huntington Beach Pier. In Newport Beach, we'd watch the boats come in and go out of the channel and watch the yearly Boat Christmas Parade. When we lived in central Colorado (Parker), we'd go to the mountains to watch bull and cow elk. Would also beach the powerboat we had there and relax on a local lake beach. So, what do we prefer now...….mountains, specifically, the Rocky Mountains, but have been to Yellowstone in Wyoming as well. Went to the beach here a few times, but, to us, So Calif. beaches are much, much better. So, which are you? A beach or mountain person?
I like both...don't have a preference. I'm not a swimmer but do love walking on a beach just looking for shells, etc. I used to like to hike in mountains but haven't done that for years....probably couldn't anymore if steep.
At my second home overseas ..I have all 3 of those things next to my Casa..Mountains, the ocean and the beautiful Mediterranean beaches, all within a few minutes.... I love them all, can't imagine not having any of them, but if I had to choose just one I would save our precious mountains.. here in the UK, I live a long way from Mountains.. but I'm just 40 minutes from nice beaches...
I'm not far from mountains here in Fresno...it's a lot cooler up there. That's where they get snow in the winter....probably at around 3,500 ft elevation...Ive been as high as 10,000 here. We have quite a few National Parks in Fresno county, Yosemite being the closest to my house...57 miles. As for the ocean, probably a two hr drive minimum ...I think.
Had to look it up...Fresno is 100 miles inland from the closest beach. https://www.californiabeaches.com/map/best-beaches-near-fresno/