Couch Surfing San Francisco

Jason woke me up after my three hours of sleep - and I remembered hammering Sam at our Frisbey golf game in the parking garage the night before... No time for reminsicing though; Jason needed to get to the Airport. We pulled up to the Dragon and Jason said his early morning goodbyes and we headed off to the airport. I plugged in airport to the GPS and 10 different airports popped up. He figured he was flying out of the main San Francisco airport, and since we didn't print his itenerary we wouldn't know until we got there. After arriving I tried to wait as he verified his ticket but the security guy was telling me to move along. I pulled forward about 50 yards and didn't pay him any more attention. I finally noticed he was writing me a ticket right as Jason jumped in and said we needed to hall ass to Oakland - where he's supposed to fly out of.
So off to Oakland - anxiety building as each minute ticks by... I dropped him off at the Alaskan Airlines terminal wishing him the best.

I made my way back to the China Town area with the fleeting task of finding a parking space. After 15 minutes of circling around I found one, parked, and headed out to find a bathroom to freshen up... Since it was Sunday most of the cafes were closed but finally found one that was open and ordered a coffee. I tried calling Justin's phone but it was off - dead battery probably... Randevousing with them just got much more difficult.

As I was walking back to my car the craziest thing happened - the Dragon buzzed by honking and hands waving out the window. They pulled into a spot half a block up but as they did the dragons bumper clipped an innocent 2007 Honda CRVs bumper and ripped it clean off...
Sam fashioned a well written note - apologizing profusely and giving our contact info.
We had sorted out both vehicles afterwards and made plan to meet at highly recommended diner for breakfast but were unable to connect. Luckily our couchsurfing ad we placed worked well and Justin and I made plans to meet Jessica - and if all went well she said she'd be able to accomodate all of us. Well at the time we didn't know what a Jackpot it actually was. This was our first time couch surfing (less Sam of course) and we found out that Jessica worked for Couch Surfing (CS) and worked and lived at basecamp in San Francisco. Our first time couch surfing would happen at the epicenter of CS - meeting everyone behind the scenes of such a wonderful organization.

Justin Jonathan & Jessica

We met a crazy cast of characters:
Jessica                                                 Host

Michael                                               CS Programmer from Germany

Travis                                                  CS Handyman

Gardner                                              Programmer

Farley                                                 Sys. Admin (hookah guy)

Zahid                                                  Room mate

Kate                                                   Room mate

Jackie                                                 Fish keeper (haha)

Jill                                                      Cook

Casey                                                Founder of CS

Otto                                                  CS

Michael                                             Roommat


and others I'm sure we missed. So many people coming in and out it was difficult to keep track!
I was able to spend a few days updating the website while socializing with everyone at the house. Everyone made us feel really welcome and we even joined them for their organized meals twice a day that Jill so expertly orchestrated.

Michael and Jonathan playing 'I'm Yours' by Jason Mraz

The backyard housed a large tent with (wouldn't you know it) four couches for us to sleep on! Many conversations, hours of playing music, and drinks were had during our visit. It was my first exposure to the live where you work atmosphere... I would love to work in that type of passionate setting.

Our time in San Francisco was closing to an end though. We set our sights on one of the most beautiful places in America... Yosemite National Park!





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