Oxnard, CA to El Capitan State Beach, CA Oxnard is agricultural land, then labor housing, then a huge wealthy community of moored boats. Here I can find no breakfast, and I have to pee by the road out of desperation. In Ventura there is food, and to the north are a couple of rising coastal…

Malibu, CA to Oxnard, CA A nice clear morning. As I ride the wide shoulder I scan the vast ocean for the spouts of whales. Near Port Hueneme I pass a public park called “Missile Park”, which is a fenced plot of dirt with various decomissioned weapons of mass destruction planted in it. A little…

Pasadena, CA to Malibu, CA I wake up early. Jeanette and Rohanna are both dead to the world. I discover that if I try to open the front door an alarm goes off, then stops when I close it again. Finally I get out, shut the door as fast as I can, and hope for…

Pasadena, CA My plans to leave fail. Everyone is scattered to the winds this morning, and I can’t just disappear. I wait anxiously. I know it will take me a long time to ride to Santa Monica to meet Jeanette, and the day seems to wear on and on without anyone around. I feel awkward…

Pasadena, CA After breakfast the moment I have wondered about so many times arrives. Lounging around the kitchen talking, Jon asks for my thoughts on Jesus Christ. I only hesitate for a second, long enough to take a breath, gearing up for an attempt to speak honestly and uncritically. I try to relax, and off…

Pasadena, CA I’m feeling worse each morning from the cold, but I soon become functional. Joan has loaned me her copy of Into Thin Air, which I greedily consume in each spare moment. In the afternoon I set out on a bike ride. I go downtown and stop at the Gospel Recordings headquarters, where Dan…

Pasadena, CA Dan goes to work this morning. After breakfast Joan takes me and the kids up into the hills for a hike. I’m impressed by how easy it is for us to escape the city and be by ourselves on a trail twisting up the mountainside by a shady creek. The girls are having…

Pasadena, CA Another casual breakfast, then the two families disappear at different times to different churches. The kids will probably ask why I don’t go, but they don’t in front of me. I know Jeanette will be late, so I just enjoy the quiet morning in my own form of worship, awareness and amazement. Dan…

Pasadena, CA I awake and set forth to find my place in this household. So far all I know is that I’ve commandeered one of the girls’ bedrooms. The house has two wings. I’m on Jon and Clair’s side in Brooke’s room. Dan, Joan, and their daughter Jenny sleep on the other side. In the…

Dana Point, CA to Pasadena, CA I get up and ride to pretty Laguna Beach, where I find my way to my Uncle Jim’s place. It is just as it’s been described to me, lots of stairs, Aunt Tini’s art everywhere, messy – a senior bachelor pad. Uncle Jim is a friendly 85-year-old, suffering from…