Sunny California?

We headed back on the road at 8:30am. As it was light out, we got to see the Oregon mountains. Oregon has some great views. We crossed into California and the rain came pouring down, again. It seems that we can not escape this rain. Northern California is very similar to Oregon and Washington State, except that it is a little less lush from generally receiving less rain (not today though).


We cruised a good clip and arrived at Stanford by 2:30pm (I needed to be there by 2:55). As you cross the bridge from Oakland into Palo Alto, the city does not appear to be very trendy. Houses look very ordinary. But when turn on the road that heads into the university the trendy appears full force. It is a strip of fancy stores and restaurants that goes on for at least 5 blocks. Then you enter the university on Palm Drive, a dramatic entrance that is lined with large palm trees. In an area that seems pressed for space, Stanford has an abundance of it that they take advantage of to create a beautiful campus.

The business school appears fairly modern. The students give off the impression that there is a lot of money floating around. I attended an Organization class that was examing customer service models and their analysis using the case study of the Ritz Carleton. I was impress witht the teacher, who effectively used the Socratic method to reinforce the main lessons of the class. I was also impressed with the caliber of the students. The majority of the students participated in the class and all demonstrated a good to advanced understanding of statistics.

Stanford is exactly as I expected: a top notch school with exemplary students. While I know I would enjoy the academic environment that Stanford creates, I may have difficulties meshing with the money and overachieving focus of the student body.

After Stanford we headed for Davis, CA. My father offered a detour of driving though San Francisco to see some sights before hitting the hwy80 towards Davis. Sightseeing San Fran in the dark when you have no clue where you're going is not easy. We did get to experience the ridiculous hills of the city. Who thought building a city in an area with so many drastic hills was a good idea? This isn't some easy slopes. These are 60 degree downslopes!

Seattle, San Fran and the Rockies - they are giving our dear 4 cylinder automobile a real workout. So far, it has held up great (knock on wood). Tomorrow, I interview and visit UC Davis. Then, we head down to Orange County.