San Francisco! I was so excited when I was able to finally drive on the bridge the every Full House episode opened up with! The main reason why we visited San Fran was to volunteer at a youth ministry outreach program right in the heart of the city. Pulling into the city in our rented black Mustang convertible, we were riding in style! It was a different world over there for sure as we rounded every corner. Being a small town country girl, the bumper to bumper driving was foreign to me. Also, people were not afraid to honk their horns. Horn after horn would honk. We didn’t know if they were honking at us. We didn’t know if they were honking to make the light change quicker. We didn’t know if they were honking as a form of hand exercises. Confused, we just joined in the honking surrounding us like an echo. If you can’t beat them, join them!
We ended up making it to our destination. The ministry was happy to see us and gave us a tour of their facility. They had a lounge room for youth to play video games and hang out that led to the kitchen where parents and youth would help prepare meals for the kids after school. As we ventured down the hall, we were shown the indoor gym where youth would play basketball, which was huge in San Francisco. That and skateboarding. Because eating together brings people together, a table was set up in the room next to the gym so the parents and youth would eat. Out back, the ministry had a yard with a play house that connected to a basketball court covered with beautiful graffiti. Being located in a dangerous part of town, they also had tall fences surrounding the outside so youth would stay safe. Youth started trickling in so we mingled, played, and laughed with them until dinner began. Eating together was special and that’s where names were learned and memories made. Youth began to prepare for the message a local youth pastor gave them after eating. It was near that time I started running a high fever and I couldn’t ignore it anymore. We had to leave. After our good-byes, we found a hotel near the organisation.
The next morning, we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge! As we started driving over it, I was perplexed that the Golden Gate Bridge was red. I took pictures anyway enjoying every second. A fog surrounded the top of the bridge which made it seem like I was in a majestic dream. (Sorry that the pictures aren’t the best, I had a crappy phone back then)
We stopped at a tourist lookout spot once we were across to take more pictures. Since we were tired of traveling in a car we decided to walk up a path that led to a lighthouse near the bridge. Another adventure began as we climbed…
When we got to the top of the cliff (The one on the right in the picture) there was a tiny door in the mountain with a lock and chain. The chain was unlocked so we took the chain with us so no one would lock us in and walked through a dark, claustrophobic tunnel. At one point, we couldn’t see in front of us so we felt our way through by running our hands across the cold, damp rock of the mountain. We really weren’t sure what would be on the other side since we weren’t supposed to be going through the door. Our curiosity got the best of us at this point. What would we find?
Once we got on the other side we couldn’t believe our eyes! The was rock after rock and a beautiful lighthouse. When we looked off the edge of the cliff, we saw sea lions sunning themselves on the ocean’s rocks. There was a group of kids from the YMCA getting a private tour and must have forgotten to lock the entrance once they were through. One of the leaders asked us if we were with the group and we were caught. They asked us to head back and we handed over the chain that was on the door. Even though we got caught, we had a great view and an unforgettable adventure!
Lets go surfing…….