Day 11 - Escape TO Alcatraz

Whew! Nice to get a good rest last night...and a great complementary breakfast (there was even a waffle maker! - a big hit). We were up and out of the hotel by 7:55am this morning, and navigated the bus through San Francisco to Pier 33 - The Alcatraz Tour.

Tour was great - some had never been on a "big boat" before! It was our first rain for quite a while, but the gray misty, low cloud added a bit of ambiance to the journey to Alcatraz. After a half hour or so, the rain let up and there is blue sky and sunshine poking through once again. Pretty amazing building and fascinating stories! Most of us took the 45 minute "audio tour" and checked out the cell block (which, amazingly, was build by the inmates themselves!).

Presently, I am sitting on the second floor of Barnes and Noble while 8 of our crew takes a guided tour/visit of Pixar Studios (set up through Joel Kesler's connections) and the remaining members of our group ride cable cars to a big mall in the center of San Fransisco for lunch and a bit of pre-border shopping. We'll meet at 2pm to begin our journey home across the Golden Gate bridge toward our home and native land.

We will, Lord willing, arrive in the lower mainland in the morning for a last team meal before some of us are dropped off and the majority continue through to Prince George. We have found our travel in the States to take a bit longer than estimated...so we will likely arrive home on Tuesday late (hopefully before midnight). The team continues to be troopers - enjoying their time together and making the most of the long journey home together.

Pray for a speedy return and smooth crossing at the border - not to mention grace as we spent the next MANY hours on the bus together...