California:
Its a funny old do, but my interest in the State of California occurred well over 10 years ago, starting with the Flight Simulator; "Flight Unlimited II".
I have spent the intervening years in the varous MS Flight Sims, exploring the whole State, practically every day, and been fascinated by its History, Geography,and Geology, from the "Goldrush Times", and earlier Spanish times, with the aid of Wikipedia, Google Maps, etc, noting places of interest, and occurrences of interest, often appearing in the News...
Various California News Broadcasters and Newspapers regularly E-Mail me with daily breaking news for me to load up my Simulator and explore the event!
Its the main thing that I find the Flight Simulator excels in!
The MS Flight Simulator's representation of California is remarkably accurate, (probably because the programmers work in Silicon Valley!)
Many Hollywood, etc, films were made in and around the State, and as I watch the films I am acutely aware of the locations, and very familiar with all the scenery presented in front of me!
Paul...a potted History of the State of California...

..!
...and its in a right old state at the moment!..

...

...!
Win 8.1 64-bit. DX11. Advent Tower. Intel i7-3770 3.9 GHz 8-core. 8 GB System RAM. AMD Radeon HD 7700 1GB RAM. DVD ROM. 2 Terra Byte SATA Hard Drive. Philips 17" LCD Monitor. Saitek Cyborg X Fly-5 Joystick. ...and a Briggs and Stratton Petrol Lawn Mower.