mandolin players?

[G G]

Do we have any mandolin players in CA? I have played guitar for most of my 47 years. I toyed with a mandolin a couple times over the years but never had one. I sold a couple of instruments a couple weeks ago to finance my purchase of a Loar LM-600vs with a Cumberland Accoustic Bridge upgrade from folkmusician.com. I haven't gotten it yet and can't wait to get started. I have a pos that i borrowed from my cousin a month or two ago. The couple other times I tried to play a mandolin I can only explain it this way: Since a guitar is tuned in 4ths and a mandolin is tuned in 5ths it was like I was learning spanish and speaking it but still thinking in english. I have now been playing lead guitar at my church for the last two years and my guitar playing has improved and I have a lot better understanding of scales now. This time when I got the borrowed mandolin, it's as if I am now speaking spanish and thinking in spanish (does that make sense?) I primarily will play bluegrass and am looking forward to expanding my talent.