Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015 Scott & Peg Polar Bear Dip

During our evening meal last night, Peg sent me a text to let me know that they were in SLO (San Luis Obispo). That is the college town just east of us here on the Central Coast. She wanted to know if we'd be available today, on the 1st, to get together. I responded that this afternoon would be good for us.

So when they woke this morning, they headed to Avila Beach for breakfast. Avila is just south of us on the coast (kind of around the corner on the coast and into a new cove that includes Shell and Pismo Beach). While they were there for a late breakfast, the "3rd Annual Avila Beach Polar Bear Dip" happened at noon. They watched the group of people taking a dip and decided they ought to give it a try.

It was fun to listen to Scott tell the story of watching and preparing and dipping. He said no one who was taking the "dip" had a bikini body. He said lots of "pale, over-weight" people were having a blast participating. He even said there was a group of middle-aged women who were obviously long-time friends and had made plans to do it together. Watching all of the people gave Scott & Peg the incentive to do the same. 

So he told us about not having their swimsuits and how they improvised. It was just plain fun listening to Scott & Peg's enthusiasm. Scott is a natural born storyteller. They had taken this "selfie" and put it on Facebook, so they get all the credit for this cute photo. While they were doing the "Avila Beach Polar Bear Dip" we were having a great time watching several thousand people do the "35th Annual Polar Bear Dip" here in Cayucos. We did not do the dip -- but we had a blast watching.

We've been friends with Scott & Peg since summer of '81, when we all met each other at Campus By the Sea Family Camp on Catalina Island. They had two tiny little boys and we had two kids that were young teenagers. From that week on we've been friends. Sometimes we see them lots -- I mean every weekend -- and sometimes our paths wander in opposite directions for many months before we reconnect; however, reconnecting with them is always fun. We've also done lots of traveling with these two. Peg and I have taken several cruise vacations together when the guys were unavailable, and the four of us have traveled the Ohio River together from St. Louis to Pittsburgh. Traveling with friends is truly a blast.

We used to meet Scott & Peg on January 1 every year for breakfast. They live in Orange County and we live just over the borderline in Riverside County. So we'd all pedal our bicycles to a breakfast place to meet. They would pedal east and we'd pedal west. We'd sit there for hours eating, talking, laughing, and making memories. So today it was fun to have dinner with them on the first day of the year.

Life would be pretty dull without friends, and currently many of our friends have drifted different directions than us. That's probably because we are all transitioning into our retirement years. Many of our friends have just learned that we now have a home (a shack) on the Central Coast that we want to retire to when I quit teaching (which will probably be several more years). So possibly some of them might stop here, when we are here, to see this place (which at the moment isn't much to see). We believe the purpose of this place isn't "to look at" but "to look out." The view here is truly entertaining; it's a point-to-point view from Point Buchon to Point Cayucos. We're working with an architect to explore and discover some possibilities for improving this place.

So that's my January 1st report.
Happy New Year everyone,
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol