Hey Kristin -- I have The Shack at home too, waiting to be read. 

I think different people have different ways of praying or talking to God if you will -- whomever (or whatever) that is....I know my husband does it when he runs on trails. You did it Sunday walking on the beach, admiring nature and being with each other, taking time to reconnect. The discipline of being in a specific place with specific people no doubt has its advantages, but it sounds like what you were doing had its own spiritual side.