If you want to see “Appalachia West”, drive north on I-5 until you get to Bakersfield, then take CA-99 from Bakersfield to Sacramento. Well, from the LA area, anyway. Or from SF go east on I-80 to Sac, then south on CA-99.

It’s a different world than the coastal cities. (Much like you said, but that’s the route, anyway)

Sacramento itself is a kind of borderland, despite being the capitol.