No. 54:  Go out to dinner by myself...

or what it really says on the list:

54. Go to dinner in Salida by myself, sit at the bar and be fearless 
rather than eating frozen pizza at the cabin alone

      Thursday night was Halloween. 

   

      There are exactly ZERO children anywhere near our cabin so I knew I wouldn't be having any cute trick or treaters.

      The girls had cheer leading practice and then went on their merry ways, leaving the mama (me) at home alone. 

      But I had heard that in town there would be a re-enactment of the zombie dance from Michael Jackson's Thriller being performed on F Street.  F Street is the "cool' street.  (Hmm...how dated does that sound? As my girls would put it: "F Street is life." )

      A zombie flash mob.  

      Sounded entertaining to me.

    

      So after being abandoned by my darling children, I bundled up and headed into town. 

    

      I swear I passed a couple of zombies driving a Subaru station wagon on the highway- but maybe I  

just had zombies on the brain. 

Anyway, I think you can agree that this was totally worth it. The fact that I am living in a place where

fun stuff like this occurs, well, it just blows me away.  

          

If for some reason you can't see this video, please click HERE.

      Afterwards, I was frozen.  Standing on a street corner in 40º weather with the wind blasting through would have been no problem if I had realized just how chilly and windy it was. But I was underdressed for standing around outside.   

      Also, I was hungry

   

      And so, No. 54. was accomplished. 

      I walked into one of my favorite restaurants, the Fritz, and settled my behind on a bar stool. 

The Fritz from the street.

      After ordering a beer and dinner, I chatted with the owner and then waited for my food.    

      A couple of people with their faces painted like "Day of the Dead" figures came in.

   

      A comment by the gentleman sitting a few stools over got me into a health care discussion.  
      While I think the Affordable Care Act is a good idea in concept, obviously it has not had a successful start up. This gentleman had definite/different opinions and while I devoured a yummy ham and provolone sandwich with the most delectable french fries ever, we weighed the pros and cons of health care as we know it.  
      Unfortunately we did not come up with any solutions to improve the Affordable Healthcare Act or health insurance in general. 

But dinner was wonderful and I was totally comfortable sitting at a bar chatting with a stranger.
      This could have been a challenge because I did not want to sit by myself at a table, eating and  staring into space or at my iPhone. But I also didn't want to come off as looking to be "picked up".


      So I guess the reason for my success was simple. I went someplace small, where I was comfortable and where I was familiar with the staff.


      Easy-peasy.

     One more challenge accomplished.