San Francisco Day 1

Up at 6:45 a.m. on the 4th of July? No way. There was a time in my life when I would be going to bed at 6:45 a.m. on the 4th of July. I was 4 months old. I never slept. Mom reminds me all the time.
But I did wake up because my oldest daughter, Ashby, my son Corin, and I were going on a mission trip to San Francisco on the 4th of July. That is honestly the only thing that would get me up at that time. OK, that or a pound of bacon, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and a large cappuccino served by Sofia Vergara.
After a hearty breakfast not served by Sofia Vergara, it was onward to the airport. Driving to the airport early on a national holiday is the only way to drive to the airport in Houston. I was able to enter the freeway safely. I could drive the speed limit! Once I even changed lanes WITHOUT signaling! This was shaping up to be the best holiday ever. And the mission trip hadn’t even started yet!
Said goodbye to Shannon and Jamesyn and found the Grace group at the terminal. Made our way to the security line. TSA Agents didn’t offer to body scan me. My ego was more than a little bruised. Got a little motion sick on the tram ride from Terminal E to C. Of course, I get motion sick when someone ELSE flies. I muddled through and apparently everyone else did too--25 minutes into the trip and all students were accounted for at the terminal gate. Except for that one kid with the funny haircut, but no one was really sure if he was a part of the group to begin with.
After boarding, our Continental flight was delayed because they had too many people on the plane. Continental—running an airline for nearly 100 years AND the entire boarding process is computerized. Thankful it took only 25 minutes to realize their error, and this happened only after the flight attendants tried to force an unfortunate passenger into the overhead bin so we could depart. They made up for the inconvenience by charging for snacks. They also placed a TV in front of every seat with continuous ads featuring the mildly annoying Progressive Insurance girl, unless you wanted to buy programming. AND YOU COULD NOT SHUT IT OFF.
After landing, we grabbed our bags and packed them into a couple of vans to transport them to our destination for the week. Unfortunately, we placed them in the wrong van and a very confused couple from Mendocino drove off with them. We hope they’ll be able to return them before nightfall. We boarded BART (which stands for Big Aluminum Rumbling Trains or something) to the city. The ride featured lovely views of beautiful concrete tunnels that San Francisco is so famous for.
It was a gorgeous day when we finally emerged from the underground. We walked a couple blocks to the Youth With A Mission storefront facility, which is directly across from the church made famous in the Will Smith movie Men In Black, or perhaps The Pursuit of Happyness. We met the staff and claimed a bunkbed, which were re-purposed from the cells at Alcatraz.
The rest of the evening went quickly with a leader meeting, supper and then a large group meeting to reveal to the kids the plan for the week and rules of the facility. The kids were disappointed that they would be required to wash and detail the staff’s cars and feed their cats and get their mail while they drove to southern California for a much needed vacation.
The evening activity required leaders and students to break into small groups of 3 or 4 and explore the Tenderloin District, which was named for the former mayor, Big Tony Tenderloin.
We were allowed to explore the Tenderloin ("Explore the Tenderloin" was a movie saw once in college I think...) and try to interact with some of the many homeless who lived on the streets right outside YWAM’s door. We met many folks and had a few moving conversations with them, which was fairly profound for the kids and adults as well. And that made for a memorable holiday.
On a side note, we were pretty sure we saw Jerry Garcia, who apparently faked his own death. He disappeared into a corner liquor store before we could be sure, though. Maybe we’ll see him tomorrow....