Yesterday, I went to Panther Beach with some friends I’ve known since middle school and high school. It was a pretty big deal, with weeks of planning ahead of time.
I drove on the winding road to go down. I got lost, driving past the dirt parking lot for Panther Beach, and kept on going on the road for about ten miles before stopping at a dirt parking lot for a different beach.
After driving back towards the other direction and finally finding Panther, we all began making our way down to the beach, through a small strip of rugged hiking. We carried our beach stuff, food, and cooking items down. It was tough, but we made it down eventually and safely. I scrapped my leg with minor bleeding.
We got to the beach at around 11 AM. We spread out our beach towels, took off our shoes, and settled on the beach.
My friends cooked delicious hamburgers, chicken, and steak with a barbecue. It was tough with the wind blowing and the sand getting everywhere, but it wasn’t too bad. My friend cooked food essentially the whole time. I’m grateful.
We went to the shoreline and ran away from the incoming waves. We watched the waves come and go, with the infrequent huge wave crashing high up the sand to our amazement.
We stayed until the sun set at around 8 PM. We gathered our stuff, brought everything through the danger-hike towards our parked cars. We got back to our friend’s house at around 10:30 PM, and we all went back to our houses at 11:30 PM.
I wasn’t home all day. It was a “big” event.
Today, I was invited to spontaneously hang out with two of my college friends. We met at a coffee shop downtown, and we talked for a while.
Then, one of my friends wanted to do something other than sit around at the coffee shop. “C’mon, I’m free all day. Let’s watch a movie or something.”
As we continued to talk and converse about whatever came to mind, the same friend says “Let’s go to the beach. I want to go to Mavericks beach.”
And just like that, the decision was made. He drove the three of us an hour away, towards the Half Moon Bay area for Mavericks beach.
We left at around 11 AM. I got home at 4:45 PM. The trip wasn’t a “big deal.” It wasn’t planned out. It was spontaneous and fun.