Travel With Betsy

It’s been a few months now since I returned from “the great 6 month travel adventure”. I have to say that it seems like just yesterday that I was having a conversation…en francais….with just about everyone I came in contact with in France…..with varying levels of success.   And, in my mind’s eye, I can almost reach out and touch the penguins in the Antarctic and the monkeys in Costa Rica.   Yep….just right there………almost…………almost………oh….so close…..oh well……maybe next time..

As you might guess, I am ready to go again….actually, I am “chomping at the bit” to get on the road again! But, due to some personal transition and a very patient kitty who wants and needs some attention,

I am taking a small breather to “get my ducks in a row” again and gather my thoughts, …….and a little bit of money……. before heading back out for another great adventure in a foreign land. I have some fun ideas that could prove to be very exciting! When they become a little more solid, I’ll loop you in!

But, in the meantime, I am having a great adventure in my own back yard! I have lived in San Luis Obispo for 7 years in August and have never really explored my hometown. Hard to believe, but it’s true. So friends…. here we go.   I’m on my way to a San Luis Obispo ”STAYCATION”!

I am having so much fun so far that, aside of my 2-3 days each week of working at Adelaida Cellars (which I have to say is also fun), I feel like I am on vacation every day! I am amazed at how much there is to do here, and, thanks to a couple of fun friends who “know the ropes”, I have tried a wide range of activities and have a plan to try even more. By the end of the summer, I will have done everything. Well, not everything. I don’t have a desire, for example, to go surfing in the subzero water here. But, I’m guessing that I will have taken a substantial bite out of the many fun things to do in the area. At this writing, I already have a mouthful!

Among my favorite activities has been experiencing the local music scene.

One day I called Nancy, one of my partners in crime, and said, “I am in the mood to dance. Is there anywhere to go?” She said, “Of course. This is wine country. Pick a winery on any Friday night and there will be music and dancing in a beautiful setting. There will also be wine.”   SOLD!  And, so, was my first adventure!

We decided to go to Claiborne and Churchill (because it’s close to home and I like the wine) to hear “Occasional Moustache”, a local rock/country/folk band.

Interesting fact….none of the band members actually had a moustache. Maybe that’s where they come up with the “occasional” part. HMMM…anyway, they played music from my era (you know from back in the dark ages)……and, they were really good. We, along with everyone else, were really enjoying the music. So, after a couple of songs, we decided to join the group of dancers that was slowly forming in front of the band.

Nancy and I were, of course, dateless. We could dance with each other, but why not try to find a partner. I love meeting new people!   So, the two of us carefully looked over the crowd and identified some potential dance partners. I have to say the pickings were slim….not too appealing….which explains how I ended up dancing with a blue haired medical assistant student who was still in his scubs from work. Believe it or not, I think he was about my age….maybe a little bit younger….the hair was a bold move! Not really my type. But, who cares…and, his scrubs did match his hair. It was a nice “monocolor” look. HA!!

After one dance, Nancy and I were relegated to dance with each other and, as it turns out, everyone else on the dance floor.   You know how that goes. You dance around, bump into someone you don’t know, turn around and you have some new dance partners and, sometimes, some new friends! On the dance floor, we met up with a couple that Nancy knows, and then had a great adventure with them in the next week, which I will tell you about in another post. And, I reconnected with someone I met when we moved here 7 years ago…haven’t seen her since. My blue haired dancing partner caught her eye and then she saw me. She “dosey doed” over to my dance space to first, question my judgement (HA!!), and then to say Hi!

In the weeks following our “maiden voyage” on the dance floor, Nancy and I attended another of these dancing events at Baileyana Winery and yet another one over the 4^th of July weekend at a park in Grover Beach, where I met….are you ready for this one?!……a couple that was on the Antarctic cruise with Lee and I at the beginning of the year.   They live just down the road from me in Santa Maria….small world…..and small town!

At each of these events, I took some time, as I usually do to look around at the people and savor the atmosphere. As I took in the view, I realized the wide range of people in attendance. Each event was the same. I saw families having a low key, low cost outing with their children, lazily sipping wine, listening to the music and moving to it in whatever fashion inspired them. Occasionally, you could hear chatter and laughter over the music as they shared stories.

I saw couples, young and old, dancing, talking and laughing together in the shadow of the music.

And, then there were the children! The small children are always my favorite to watch at these kinds of things. They are always so exuberant! I watched them as they played tag and hide and seek in between the rows of grapes at the vineyards…..hiding from each other behind the rows of trellised vines and crying out when they were found.

Then, I watched small children, taken with the rhythm of the music, swirling and dancing with each other on the dance floor. No inhibitions. Just “unbridled, raucous fun”!

When was the last time we as adults have done that? This was the first in a long while for me (not that is was so raucous, but definitely unbridled) It was so worth it!

After these experiences, I’m predicting a boost in the “unbridled fun” department in my future! Because at the many events such as these (and there are many!) here in San Luis Obispo county, one can lose her feelings of self-consciousness and just let loose, let the rhythm take her….and sometimes let herself dance with the most unique of characters…..just for fun!

Stay tuned!

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