Yep, pretty much the same way here...
it caught me off guard at first, then I finally realized that it was a polite gesture to acknowledge the other driver as you pass them. That is one thing I have really noticed here are that men especially have good manners. I don't think I can remember while in Calif, a man opening a door for a woman to get in her car. I have seen it many times here. It's funny to hear you refer to us as up North, because I always think of us as being down South. There is a huge Southern influence here. Catfish fries on Friday nights, and that is every Friday. Every hot food section of all the restaurants here serve fried chicken livers and gizzards. The fast food restaurants serve biscuits and gravy, even McD's.
Pork tenderloin sandwiches are everywhere.
After living in So. Cal, and the lack of water, it is a pleasure to live somewhere where the grass is green, you hardly ever have to water the garden or trees, and it actually rains, warm rains. I really do like living here, more and more as time goes on. I like the slower pace of life here, more and more as time goes by.