I lived in Mt. Shasta City, CA, 3,600' elevation, for 2 years. The Summers were very sunny and dry, and warm. Nights were extremely nice. Some really good camping weather. It started raining in Sept-Oct and that could continue until the early Spring. Walk up the mountain and you go from 40* and rain in town to 12" of snow after a few miles, pretty cool to traverse the transition! Spring nights on the mountain, you would be walking on 10'+ of snow and ice, but it was always clear, stary skies and pretty warm. I really enjoyed it.

One more note on my wife... she has no idea why the Super Bowl means so much to people. She said just enjoy it and don't worry about whether they win or lose. I can't even comprehend those words.

Nice! 4000-6000 feet is perfect for me. Comfortable winters with some snow for interest Check out Idyllwild. 60 s are common in winter, yet they average 30.7" of snow annually (which is more than enough)

Interestingly we lived at 1,200 feet in San Diego County for 5 years between 1998-2003. Not exactly highland SoCal though because that is probably 4,000+ feet down there but we used to drive up to Cuyamaca and Julian to see snow and it was nice to see forests down there. Even the high elevations down there are very sunny.

@TT-SEA What are your thoughts on highland SoCal climates?