TWB July 13th 2019 Experience: Day 12-San Francisco

Day 12: San Francisco

Hey y’all! We come bearing sad news; it’s the Sleepy group’s last day as bloggers. Although it’s been fun to write about our adventures, we will gladly be taking up dishwashing next!

Today, we woke up around 6:12am. This was actually about three minutes early thanks to Kent wanting to steal Dallas’s iconic catch phrase, “Good morning sunshines.” What followed was a dramatic tantrum coming from Dallas since she loves waking us up in a special way. We worked hard to get all of our stuff together in the small room in another area of the church. We get to stay at the same place for two nights so we didn’t have to worry about getting stuff packed on the bus or trailers (yay!).

We arrived at the infamous Cliff House where we all got out to see the sights down below in the secluded cove. As we walked into the hidden cave, some of us started tripping over the rugged walkway. At the end of the cave, we were met with breath taking views of the sea crashing into the coastal rocks. We snapped a few pictures trying to save this special moment together. On our way out, Grant announced that we were going to have a race to the top of the hill; the winner gets an undecided prize. Those who chose not to race could see from down below how much the competitors were struggling up the steep hill, besides the two people in the front who were racing past all of them. Several of us collected beautiful flowers from along the walkway where some of the girls either put them in their hair or tucked them behind their ear in an effort to channel their best San Francisco-an. After an active morning, we boarded back on the bus and made our way further into the wonderful city.

We reached our destination and headed, on foot, to the famous Fisherman’s Wharf to take photos and do our research. Research today starred Ava R., Luke S., Keenan B., Kathryn C., Josh B. and Olivia M. Luke and Kathryn ended up having to have a friendly competition with their research to see who knew more facts about San Francisco! Kathryn ended up taking home the Gold Medal.

After all of this took place, we took our group photos with the Golden Gate Bridge and part of the Pacific Ocean, including Alcatraz, in the background. Once group photos were done, we were able to disperse and explore San Francisco with our friends. Many of us first went to try San Francisco’s famous clam chowder in a bread bowl while others of us settled for the (newly traditional to us) In-N-Out Burger. Those of us who had it all were able to come to the agreement that it was the best clam chowder bowl we’ve ever had! There even ended up being a Krispy Kreme shop where, of course, several of us had to stop at!

Around 4pm, we all made our way to Chinatown to meet up at Far East Café for a delicious dinner of authentic Chinese food. Here we were served eggrolls, orange chicken, fried rice with vegetables, lo mien, beef and broccoli, and homemade fortune cookies! With full bellies and smiles, we all made our way (quite slowly) back to the bus, but some made a pit stop to grab some ice cream sandwiches at the Baked Bear (another delicious ice cream recommendation by Dallas).

When we got to the buses and vans, we loaded up and headed towards the Golden Gate Bridge! For the first 23 steps, we all walked hand in hand in order to all be best friends forever. In total, we walked 1.7 miles across the bridge and made sure to take pictures and admire the beautiful view of the San Francisco city and bay. Once we got to the other side, we took even more pictures and our last big group photo of the day with the Golden Gate Bridge and the city of San Francisco in the background! We drove back over the bridge one last time as the sun was setting and headed back to our place for the night. Back at the church, we found out we made record time in loading up and leaving San Francisco so they rewarded us with ice cream! Today was a success and we can’t wait for the next 10 days.

***Captions for photos to come!!! I have to go drive right now and we won't be back until we hit Yosemite which is an internet blackhole :( but wanted to get the San Francisco post up for all of you! Thank you for understanding!!! See y'all in 10 days!
-Counselor Madi Nanney