TWB July 14th 2018 Experience: Day 12-San Francisco

Day 12: San Francisco
** We are very aware of the current situation in Yosemite and we will be making a detour to avoid any smoke. For this reason we will be completely dodging the affected area. We will be staying north of Yosemite and will be at a much higher elevation.Safety is our main priority on this trip and we are staying true to that value. Also this next day service is very limited but we will post the blog ASAP! Thank you for continuing to check in with us each day. We are truly having the time of our lives this summer!

Hello!!! The Sleepys welcome you to our very last day of blogging.

Today was a very exciting seventeenth birthday for our very own Ashlyn Rhyne.

We woke up today at 6:30 at Lakeside Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, California. Everyone was excited for the fun filled day ahead. It all started when we loaded the bus and vans and headed to Cliff House. Chef Kevin greeted us outside the historic restraunt. After taking several group pictures, we made our way inside the restaurant to the dinning area. Here we were offered orange juice, water, and popovers (pastries) with strawberry jam and orange marmalade. After we engulfed the delicious breakfast, Chef Kevin gave us a great tour of the restaurant and explained that it had burned down five times and been built six times. On the back section of the building we were able to take multiple pictures with the ocean as our backdrop. We thanked Chef Kevin and headed on our merry way to Fisherman’s Warf.

We arrived at the foggy area of Fisherman’s Warf to discover loud and obnoxious, but satisfyingly cute, sea lions. We had another group picture taken and listened to three lovely presentations. Sianna delivered research on Lombard Street, Ainsley spoke on the Golden Gate Bridge, and Harrison and Leslie trivia battled over the Cliff House. After this, we gathered for another group picture under the Fisherman’s Warf sign (you’re welcome Mom and Dad). Once this was all done, we were set free to explore San Francisco!

Some participants stayed around Fisherman’s Warf while others ventured deeper into the city. Lunch today was “Buy Your Own”. Popular lunch options consisted of In-N-Out Burger for fast food and local seafood restaurants for clam and crab chowder. After lunch, many people rushed to the Apple Store while others continued to explore all the San Fran had to offer. Those who traveled around the city discovered Ghirardelli Square, Chinatown, The Painted Lady, Lombard Street, and the Chinese Park where swing jumping competitions took place. One of our own Sleepys, Harrison Parrott, went on a three hour hunt for his water bottle which ended up on a for sale rack at a tourist shop. Another group (including Brandon Cool, Madison Price, Virginia, Ben, Peyton, and Vivian) went into a unique store containing artifacts from various eras and locations. He taught the TWB participants that came in to appreciate art in a brand new perspective. Street performers also attracted the attention of participants such as Genevieve, Holly, MC, Kendrick, and Chris.

When four o’clock rolled around, we all met at Far East Café in Chinatown for an early Chinese dinner. We feasted on chicken fried rice, lo mein, sweet and sour chicken, and Mongolian beef and broccoli. When we finished our meal, we opened and ate fortune cookies before being released to finish venturing the streets of San Francisco.

At 5:45 we met back at the bus, minus a few stragglers who arrived twenty minutes late, to head to the one and only Golden Gate Bridge. Once we arrived at the bridge, we all joined hands and walked 23 steps to finalize our lifelong friendships. After this, we continued across the bridge and took pictures. When we finished walking the bridge, we all gathered and sang Happy Birthday to Ashlyn!! Most of us reloaded the vehicles and headed back to Lakeside Presbyterian Church while the new cooks (Dopeys) headed to Safeway to get the food for our traveling breakfast and lunch tomorrow. They were in and out of Safeway in 15 minutes so they could get back in time to shower. Next, we caught up on research presentations. Gillian Walter described Cannery Row in Monterey. Payton Dyksterhouse and Carsyn Parrott had a research battle of San Francisco. Lauren Pollock presented on Chinatown. Our birthday girl, Ashlyn, told us about the Golden Gate Bridge. Then after our showers at the YMCA we received our freshly pressed laundry (yay! We don’t stink anymore), and got settled in our beds for another cozy night in the chilly San Fran city.

Thank you to Penny and Jerry for allowing us to stay in this unique church in the heart of San Francisco. Without you our experience in San Francisco would not have nearly been comparable.

So the Sleepys are signing off for now and switching jobs to become dishwashers. Thank you everyone for viewing, see ya when we get back!