Hy @GaryP, welcome to the forum.
This is the specific section for meetups. You can create a thread with the dates and area of the meetup and see if someone nearby is interested.
Threads go down the list if there’s no activity so you can boost it up just by replying to your own thread with a short sentence.
Good luck.
I once tried Alaska and Seattle with no luck but then, coincidentally, someone from Seattle wrote an unrelated post, I DM them and we had a lovely meeting. It’s great to meet with likeminded people.
If you’re into reading, you can also consider joining the book club