This summer I was apart of a team organizing and running a summer camp for 450 high school students. This is no ordinary summer camp. We load charter buses and head off on a mystery road trip (it's a mystery for the student, us leaders are well informed), driving to a new location every day. This year we bounced around SoCal for a few days, hitting up Manhattan Beach, Newport Beach, and Disneyland. I love Southern California. The beach lifts my spirits and the eclectic stores and restaurant are so fun to explore.

On our road trip when we arrived at our locations there was often free time. We got Wahoo's Fish Tacos in Manhattan Beach and Coffee Bean. We walked the pier, watching the skim boarders bellow. It was a lovely day, the sky clear from the few days of rain before. In Newport we had an epic bus competition. Getting 450 people to participate in a relay is no small task. They ran and swam and screamed, waving their bus flags proudly. I'm sure it was quite a sight to see all these high schoolers running from sand to sea. We ended up on the Newport Beach snapchat story five times that day looking like a revolution being unleashed. A local youth group made us a delicious pancake breakfast in a San Diego during a morning drizzle of rain. Disney was magical as usual, especially the new fireworks show for the 60th anniversary. Tears people, it was incredible.

Yes, the traffic in the LA area is ridiculous, things are expensive, parking is never easy. But despite these things, Southern California is a beautiful tapestry of art, culture, people, and places. You can drive from the mountains to the beach in a few hours. I could spend all day looking at graffiti down town. I stayed down in SoCal for a few days and went to the Wedge in Newport. Sat in the sand and watched these little toe head boys who are growing up at the beach get demolished by waves over and over and laughed as the lifeguard saved unassuming tourists from being flattened by sneaky waves. People watching at the beach is the best.

Many of the things I appreciate about SoCal are an acquired taste, such as the art and endless hours sitting in coffee shops. I'm always dreaming about brand new spaces and brand new faces (Michael Bernard Fitzgerald, anyone?), I can always find new things down South. I know it's not for everyone, but the beauty of driving along PCH or breakfast on the beach or walking through LA to church will always pull me down the five to where the 210 meets the 605 and the possibilities are endless.