Silicon Valley (San Jose, Apple, Google, Stanford, and a bonus)

[plinko]

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My son is way into technology. At 10 he has already built out his own gaming computer, gotten in trouble for hacking into the school’s computers, and has an understanding of physics that it took me multiple college courses to master.

So while my daughter wanted to venture to D.C. on a trip, my son wanted something a bit different: Silicon Valley. We went and spent a few days, hitting up Apple, Google, and Computer History Museum, MicroCenter (for more expensive parts!), Stanford, and roamed the Valley. Unfortunately, while I have contacts at Apple and Google, they were both out of town so we just got to go to the public areas of the campuses. Oh well, next time.

We also had to venture north after this to pick my daughter in Sacramento, which allowed a pitstop in the City…

San Jose…nothing magical or really exciting, bit it is not without…

SJ 001 by Michael Stroh, on Flickr


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And we venture to Apple Park, a sleek, buttoned down approach to a visitor’s experience. It all kinds of reads as ‘go away’. Sadly, they don’t let you go into the ring unless you are invited (next time). But the visitor’s center is architecturally pleasant in a ‘please buy a $1,200 phone’ kind of way.


APPLE 001 by Michael Stroh, on Flickr


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The elusive ring across the street…

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The Googleplex on the other hand, is open, playful, colorful, and decidedly less polished than their competition across the Valley…


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Micro Center, where I spent 90 minutes listening to my son school the employees on why one particular graphics card or CPU is better than another…

MICROCENTER 001 by Michael Stroh, on Flickr

The Computer History Museum…

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Off to Stanford, where it was Homecoming Weekend (Stanford hosting Wake Forest? Mega matchup!). My fiance’s youngest is wrapping up her Master’s degree so she showed us around…

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Fear the Tree!

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We needed to venture up to Sacramento to pick up my daughter. Why sit in traffic on 580 when you can take the Bay Bridge?

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For the first time ever, I got off at Yerba Buena / Treasure Island…

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It should be a prison again if there is only one inmate…

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A few days later we come the other direction…headed home…

SFO 001 by Michael Stroh, on Flickr


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And back home…