A few weeks ago, I decided to walk home from Mass because I need some time to sort out my thoughts. It wasn’t that big of a deal for me, because the church is maybe three or four miles up the coast from the house. But my spontaneous journey inspired the younger kids so much that they decided we would all walk home from church tonight.

So after we got out of Mass at 6:30 PM, Candyce, Josh (14), Matt (11), Carrie (9) and I made the journey together. Some parts of the hike were crazy: a narrow sidewalk along a busy road. Other parts were more serene: a dusty footpath along the edge of a bluff overlooking the ocean.

The hike was packed with random things that amused us. The first was all the beach seekers parked on the side of the PCH. Everyone was experiencing one of the best days of their life…just hanging out by the beach. We stopped a couple times to use a port-o-potty. We spent a few minutes discussing the hippies that had set up a shelter along the lagoon. A mile later, we admired a castle-like home being built on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The only real break we took was a ten minutes to watch the sun set. Before the sun disappeared, an old man who looked like Santa ran down to go surfing. And the fisherman down on the sand caught a stingray.

;For the last half mile, we walked through a beach-side campground loaded with vacationers. The camp ground was a circus of toys for grown ups: bikes, skateboards, RVs, campers, trucks, jeeps, surfboards, etc. The air was touched with campfire smoke, enough to make you hungry. Every camp spot was an absolute party. I was kind of jealous how carefree these people were compared to the neighborhood where I am staying.