One of the things that is so satisfying about the Avon Walk is the support given by random strangers. It comes out of nowhere and always brings a smile. This woman, who resided in a great row house in the Pacific Heights area, had plotted herself in front of her home (which had an absolutely beautiful garden) to wish all 1,700 walkers well in their journey and thank them for walking for a cure. She asked that those who passed take a minute to sign their name or share some words and provided the chalk and sidewalk space to do so. Just shortly after, we passed a small private school where the students had dressed the front of their school in pink ribbons to welcome us as we passed.

At every rest and refresh stop, the line forms at the snack table – not for the Goldfish or pretzels – but for the exclusively delicious peanut butter, jelly and graham cracker treats. This is not your mama’s pb&j, and as far as we can determine, it is only available to those who tie up their laces and take on the Avon 39. Back in 2008, when we first tasted these treats, we actually kept a wrapper so we could find them online. But to no avail. In 2010, we found them again and realized that many people were, believe it or not, hoarding them as they tended to run out after the first group of walkers. So in 2016, we savored every bite!

As mentioned, we took Uber into downtown San Francisco for the start of the race on Day 1. It worked out perfectly because we parked our cars at the end of the route. Tired and ready to head home, having our cars just steps away was brilliant. We learned the lesson from NYC when we were literally stranded on an island in freezing wind with NO WAY home after the first day! The only rather comical hitch was that we didn’t plan out who was going in which Uber and left the one Uber which had to squeeze in five people with the tallest five of the group to fit in. Opps…better planning next time.

Comfy….

Not so comfy.

The morning was cool, but not cold for the start along the coast. A smaller crowd than in NYC, the numbers came in at around 1,700 but the total raised reached over $4 million. As a platinum fundraising team, we certainly did our part.

A look at the start….

A look at the finish…

And some of the in-between….

I apologize, PinkBragade.com will be “off the grid” for the next ten days and unable to share all the great photos and stories about our time in San Francisco. But assured that there will be a whole collection to view soon including stories and insights from other team members.

So…thanks for your patience…and thanks for your support of the Pink Bragade.

Team Pink Bragade decked out in our new shirts compliments of Laurie and Lynne’s creative talents.

Believe it or not, it’s actually 5:30 am and we are ready to head out the door to drive down the hill to meet up with our UBER drivers to take us into the city.  We filled the wee morning hours with a quick breakfast, coverering our their feet in moleskin and packing up for the walk. Spirits were good and most of us were awake- thanks to a dose of caffeine.

The walk began at the base of the Bay Bridge with the expected opening ceremonies. It was a small crowd, but the total raised was announced at $4.4 million. Promptly at 7, We started walking. We won’t provide a step by step description for a variety of reasons, but mostly because we really have no idea where we walked. There was no map provided. But we did go up and down a lot of hills and pass several well known San Francisco landmarks. And, there literally was inspiration at every corner.

The best thing is the fact that we all made it in good time. Yes, there were a few blisters and some sore muscles, but all in all, everyone felt pretty good.  We were glad for that.

Best to show our day through pictures. Which we will do over the next few days. Calling it a night now.

Tomorrow is the big day, but we made a quick run into San Francisco this evening for those who had to check in and also for a celebratory kick off dinner. It turned out to be a lot of fun – despite the lines and slight disorganization at the event center. But all said and done, everyone is checked in and ready to go.  Carole, Terri and Karen all made it into town via Uber and BART and met up with the rest of us who spent some time, believe it or not, walking the streets of San Francisco. Okay, we also rested our feet at a local cafe with a happy hour — didn’t want to work them too hard the day before the walk. Plus the view overlooking a city park and fountain was just too hard to resist.

At 6 pm we met up at the Boulevard, a restaurant selected months ago by Carole as the site for our kick off meal. It was an absolutely lovely evening and we scored the private wine cellar which made for a perfect and private setting for our dinner. Thank you to Carole, Carolyn and Lynne and all who have contributed so much to the culinary (and lodging) delights of this trip.

Whoops…wrong picture…meant this one……

So, Laurie and Lori had a leftover burrito from Del Taco after their long drive up north. With a few creative culinary minds…this is what it transformed into with the addition of a few eggs and fresh vegetables that Debbie brought from her garden in Michigan. Heck, we had to fuel up for our walk tomorrow. :). Throw in a round of Bloody Mary’s (a staple at most Pink Bragade events) and breakfast on the deck for a great start to the day which turned out to be absolutely beautiful, complete with cool breezes with temperatures topping out in the low 70s, we were hard pressed to leave. So we stayed here at the house, contemplating our walk, enjoying each other’s company and simply relaxing in this beautiful setting.

Laurie started off the trend announcing that on her drive up north she received a $500 donation from a friend – almost out of the blue!  That got the rest of us revved up and we took to Facebook and text messaging to see just how much more we can raise. Everyone has made their goal…but that’s not the point. It’s about bringing in the dollars to help women and men who have this dreadful disease. So thank you, thank you to everyone who has donated or shared the names of loved ones for our honor roll. We will be hitting the pavement tomorrow for you.

Tonight we started our ribbon writing. This is when the seriousness of our venture really comes into play. It is simply astonishing how many ribbons we have…just between our small group. Each of them represents a battle hard fought, some won and some lost. These are the women and men we are walking for and keeping in our hearts during not only this walk, but every training event and activity that we share as the Pink Bragade.

Debbie cutting ribbons for Saturday’s walk.

The names of those for whom we are wearing ribbons are listed on our Honor Roll page of this blog.