Travel With Betsy

….that fit perfectly together.

On this, the day before Christmas, I am reflecting on the past year……and…..I am thinking about my friends. Without them my year would not have been nearly so interesting….or fun….or good. I don’t know about you, but my friends are all very different from me……and, from each other. Yet, they all seem to fit perfectly together into my life, just as the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle fit together to form a picture.  Despite the differences in our placement and function in the puzzle, I have developed a great appreciation for all of the shapes and sizes, rough and smooth edges, and patterns and colors that are represented in their varied interests and personalities. They help me to take a step outside of myself and see things in a different way.

They make me a better person.

I often talk about my solo travel adventures in my blog. I have done some solo travel this year.  But, I have also done a fair amount of travel with my friends and have had an opportunity to see the world through their eyes, as well as my own. I have learned a few things about myself along the way and have learned to recognize the value of friendship and camaraderie.

In January, I traveled to Mexico City with a Minneapolis friend, one of my usual travel buddies. We had a great time wandering through the neighborhoods and learning about the Mexican culture.

She and I met another group of our Minneapolis friends in San Miguel Allende a few days later to explore the city and some of the surrounding towns….and, of course, to have a few Margaritas!

In February, I acquired a new friend that came by way of one of my very good California Central Coast friends.  My new acquaintance is from London and is involved in the wine industry there. As you might guess, we had a lot to talk about. Together the three of us explored Sonoma, Napa, and the California Central Coast Wine Region. We had a lot of laughs and formed a wonderful bond as we traveled together tasting wine and sampling the local food.

In March and April, some of my east coast friends and I met in New Zealand and then drove from one end to the other in a quest to try all of the wine in the country.  We didn’t sample all of the wine, of course. But, we made a fair dent in the offerings.  We also toured Sydney and Melbourne and the surrounding areas. We spent a lot of time in a small van during the days we were together and lived family-style in Air B & B’s at night. If this doesn’t make you appreciate your friends, nothing will.

There was, of course, the Chicago trip over the 4^th of July with my Pismo Beach friends that I told you about in my last post. The three of us are like two peas in a pod when we are traveling together….only there are three of us.

It just works.

I had some staycation adventures with some of my other California Central Coast friends this summer.   We visited the Getty Museum…..

……..the Huntingdon Gardens and Museum…..

……and the Santa Barbara Zoo.

And then there was the Reagan Library in Simi Valley. I have been wanting to see this for all of the 10 years I have lived in California.  It was well worth the stop.  Even though my friend and I didn’t necessarily agree with Reagan’s stance on issues, our visit made us both nostalgic for better days in the political arena.

In the fall, yet another group of us had an overnight stay at the “No Tell Motel”, aka “Bates Motel”, aka the “Sky View” in Los Alamos.

This motel has been sitting at the top of the hill off of Route 101 forever. Well…..maybe not forever, but for a long time. It had gone into disrepair until the people who own the Granada Hotel in San Luis Obispo bought it and had it totally and tastefully renovated. We had a delightful stay there.  The rooms were lovely, the service superb and the pool refreshing.  We were particularly taken with the “pool boys” who brought us a few drinks and some snacks to soak up the alcohol.

Check out these bathing beauties!

We had a very nice dinner in the restaurant, which is called “Norman”….a “Bates Motel” reference to be sure.

At the beginning of December, I tripped the light fantastic with a varied group of friends as we participated in a wide assortment of the Christmas festivities held throughout our area. Who knew there were so many things to do around the holidays on the California Central Coast!

Cambria Christmas lights……

Morro Bay Lighted Boat Parade……

A local production of “The Nutcracker”…..

…..and the Christmas lights on Vine Street in Paso Robles…….

My year in retrospect reminds me of how fortunate I am to be a piece in this puzzle of friends. our edges are sometimes jagged, sometimes smooth, and occasionally an imperfect fit. But, no matter what the complexity of the puzzle and how different we are from one another, my life would not form into a complete picture without any one of them.

So, here’s to the friends who have helped to complete my puzzle this year. At the start of the new year, we will start a brand new puzzle.  We are starting out with all of the same pieces, and I’m sure we will acquire some new pieces to add to the mix as well. It will be interesting to see how the new picture forms up.

I’ll keep you posted!

All the best for a happy and healthy new year!

…..2019 here we come!

This entry was posted on December 27, 2018 at 3:07 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.