Thanks for the welcome, people
We'll probably wait a month or so to get settled in first before we even think about going on a trail. We do plan to hit the beach or maybe camp out on the mountains if it's not too cold at this time of year (are we showing signs of CA desert rat already?)
What brought us down here? A few things actually. Number one is that one of our kids is starting school soon (he's turning five this year), and we really should settle down somewhere. California just didn't give us the settle-down-and-raise-kids feeling, what with the air pollution, crime, etc. Housing cost is not that big of a deal, since we plan to be renting for a while in either place.
So that leaves the job consideration as (one of) the deciding factors. Luckily, our company has offices all over, and NC office (Cary, NC) happens to be growing and in need, and there's good growth in the future. The town of Fuquay-Varina seems to be open-minded enough that we could build what we like without undue distress.
The weather is nice --- a little bit of everything. Lots of lovely trees all around ...
... it all clicks

so here we are.