In 1980 I took an assignment to work at a Air Force Base in Germany. I wound up staying there for three years. I was able to take the whole family (XYL and 2 kids) and we were able to travel all over Europe during our vacations (e.g. spent 2 weeks in the Canary Islands in February). At the time, a US Novice license translated to a full German Class A license, so I was able to operate for a couple of years as DA2EU. We rented a house in a farm area with beautiful rolling hills and lots of quiet.
A few years later I took a short term assignment to England for 4 months. The area was a few hours north of London. I didn't do any operating, but the area was very nice. I did a lot of wandering around castles with a stereo film camera, in my spare time. I have some nice stereo slides of Stonehenge.
Over my 35 years with the same company, I traveled to dozens of Air Force/Army bases around the US. I wasn't able to operate at any of them because some of the trips were "red eye specials". In fact, many of those trips were to Yuba City, just north of the OP, Steve.
But I think I am currently at my dream QTH. I am now retired and have a small ranch in Northern Arizona, about 60 miles south of the Grand Canyon. My area is unincorporated, so I have 9 acres to string any kind of antenna I want. We have four dogs that hunt in the fields every day and three very contented horses. At an altitude 5,300 feet, the winters are mild, the summers are long and warm, and the propagation is excellent. I mostly work the low bands, but the closest VHF/UHF repeater is 16 miles away, on Bill Williams Mountain. I can see it clearly from my front porch. Clean air, no noise, no traffic, and a beautiful sunrise/sunset every single day.
Of course, all that comes with a price. Things like, no city services of any kind, no paved roads, and long drives to access a big box store. Short of electricity and telephone service, I am completely on my own. And sometimes, even the electricity isn't there. But its worth the extra work.
Martin - K7MEM