Holy hell, what did you get convicted of? Or is this part of some sort
of a plea bargain? All kidding aside, I'll weigh in because I don't
think we have a lot of representatives on this newsgroup from Humboldt
County.

In short, it rains a lot there. All the time. That's because you are
pretty close to Oregon, and the storms keep up through the summer there
when around here (SF Bay) it dries out.

As far as skiing is concerned, I would guess that your closest
destination for track skiing is Shasta, but you have to get there - I
remember driving once from Eureka to Redding and it was quite a trip.
Then you have to get on 5 and go....north or south, can't remember.
The good news is that Shasta is right off the freeway.

That's all I've got, right off the top of my head. Good luck with it.
Hopefully it's teaching position......

bt