Maine will be very very different than California. Northern Maine (most people consider this around Bangor or Katahdin north) is very sparse and mostly hills and potato’s. Not much to do. I think you would enjoy western Maine though. Most of Maines skiing is in this region, we get just about as much snow as the county and have mountains for days. It’s still pretty remote but we do have a few towns like Farmington and Rumford. I would highly suggest the former over the latter. Farmington has a university which I’m assuming you might be interested in. An expensive option would be a place like rangeley or carrabasset valley area or king field. they’re further north than the two I mentioned earlier, groceries can mean an hour drive, bad cell reception and sometimes more costly to no apartments but they will get you even closer to the mountains. Any other questions feel free to ask!