Huntington Beach - Home Away from Home

Our last major day of riding took us from McGrath State Beach, located just south of Ventura, CA, to Huntington, CA - a total of 103.5 miles. We arrived in Huntington on Sunday night, after contact in Long Beach who we were planning to say with fell through. It actually worked out quite well, because as we were walking along a residential street because of another of my flat tires (don't ask!), a few ladies sitting out on their front porch inquired about my riding and travels, etc... One thing lead to another and before I knew it, we had a lawn to put our tent on for the night. We couldn't sleep inside, as they were already booked with all the people who were over celebrating the Memorial Day weekend, but we did get to enjoy great company along with great food from their barbeque. Two of the girls were Spanish, and they were sisters, and holy chowder did they know how to cook. The guys that were there had almost all studied some form of aeronautical engineering in college, so that made for interesting conversation as well.

Brian and I turned in for the night at about 10:30, though the party went on well into the morning. We awoke at about 6:00, as usual, and met Tom - whom we became friends with the night before - for breakfast at the Sugar Shack. The Sugar Shack at Huntington Beach is one of a kind; a family-owned restaurant that people literaly are lined up out the door and onto the sidwalk for at 7:30 A.M. Tom graciously picked up the tab for breakfast, and Brian and I were on our way once again.

In light of our experiences at Huntington Beach, it is cool to realize in hindsight that everything happens for a reason - from the things you experience, to the people you meet, to the flat tires that you get! Honestly, if I hadn't had that flat tire, we would have never been walking past that house and that time and never have gotten to meet those cool people. And I'd like to think that in our short time spent together, they left something with me and I left something with them that will ultimately make us better people and hopefully, in turn, bring us closer to the Lord.

Thus, it is easy to see why Huntington Beach turned out to be our home away from home. Amen.