Santa Ana's blow around late July or August... It's 116 and winds blow only hot, dry air making it hotter. You think Death Valley is hot? It gets hotter that time of year. My great Cali experience was sucking at NTC (when those goddamn winds blew, I expected some relief; uh-uh. Shit just gets hotter.) and farting around Tijuana, which I would highly recommend against these days. CA is basically a no-gun state, FWIW. NV and AZ have some of the better rental ranges I hear --machineguns, whatever. I second going farther north that time of year. Or Europe.
Astoria is where Goonies was filmed and that coast is pretty unique, but I'd keep going past that. BC is nice too --if you want the urban city experience, I'd go to Vancouver. It's like an American city, but cleaner and the girls are all hot. Most of the TV shows and movies you see shot in the open city these days are filmed in downtown Vancouver.
Where I'd recommend you go are the national parks. That's our big secret really. It's hard to pick a bad one. Mt. Rainier is AWESOME. I'm not religious, but I always feel like I'm in church on that mountain. There are a lot out West, don't miss that.
I can tell you what the cities are like --any other city. They all have their little quirky environs, but usually that shit belongs to a trust otherwise it'd be McDonalds and Starbucks too. FULL of tourists.
With the national parks though you won't spend most of your vacation in traffic. Remember the traffic here in populated regions can waste hours.
Portland and Seattle have undergrounds too that are open to the public. By "underground" I mean underground "cities". The best beer in US is in Pac NW too, as well as the best seafood (we get first pick).
Hell, if I have time I'd take ya out on the water myself in my little 16ft center console. But you have to drink beer. I'll even bait your hook. 
