CALL FOR HELP

On July 21 at 9:53p an e-mail was sent to all Motorpool Drivers from the crew in charge because there was a transportation crisis and drivers were needed to help with delegations and honored guests driving.  Since I do not always sleep throughout the night, I awoke at 3a and checked my e-mail sent over the last six hours. I thought this was important and with a free day, I decided to help out. After think I slept for about thirty minutes more before getting out of bed by 5:30a. Not knowing how long I would be out of the house or exactly what was needed, I packed a light breakfast and lunch and headed out the door by 6:45a. I took the Blue Line to Downtown LA and road my bike to the USC parking lot where I was to meet with the group on the 7th floor. Oddly enough, the gate guard had no clue of where workforce so took the elevator up to the 6th floor and saw a lot of bikes. I thought I was in the wrong place so I went downstairs and walked around the corner only to find my way back, then back up to the sixth floor by elevator and walked up the seventh floor where there were hundreds of Toyota vehicles and a few other volunteers. I was in the right place.
We were informed about the transportation issue with the incoming Special Olympics media, officials and athletes and how some had to sleep on the floor at Loyola Marymount University overnight. Our job was to drive Sienna vans to a parking lot near LAX and make ourselves available for whomever came arrived and needed a ride to hotels and host cities. I saw the list had a lot of names on it arriving from 9a to midnight so I thought we would be moving constantly. That was not the case. More volunteers came throughout the morning so we were about twenty in total. For about two hours we all sat and stood around talking about the games and the transportation issues as we knew. We also watched many planes arrive and depart, which is always exciting to me. Around 11a I got a call to pick up three people from terminal 4 and take them to J.W. Marriott in Downtown Los Angeles. Not knowing what these three looked like, I drove in and crept until flagged down by three women. I asked if they were going to the the J.W. and they told me there are three going there, not them. I found a man and woman going there but not the third person as she left so did we.
My first ride was to the J. W. Marriott Hotel which was about a 25 minute drive from LAX. The couple, from Washington D.C. were part of Special Olympics International and were in town for a few days. They seemed hungry and tired because they mentioned getting to the hotel soon. They also mentioned how hot they thought it was outside. It was hot and dry. After dropping them off, I drove back anticipating another pick up. That did not happen. I sat around for a few more hours before going to the supermarket with two volunteers (Noemi and Susan) to get snacks and water. After returning, we all sat around for some time longer before being asked to take the cars back to the USC parking lot.
Traffic was horrendous on the 105 as it took me about 30 minutes to drive 4 miles so I took streets which took about 30 minutes. I should have done so from the start. Once at the parking lot, Robert asked if I could help drive the Camry cars to the convention center parking lot, where they were to be stored for a week. I and a few other volunteers drove many cars over. Around 8p, I was so tired that it was time for me to go home.