The Road to Stanford

We're finally in Palo Alto! Tonight we had the best Japanese meal that any of us has had since we left Japan. And we got a head start on the school shopping. So we're off to a good start! It was a fun journey to get here . . . .



The night before we left Mary watched her old high school volleyball teammates play (and win) in their first regular season match. Here she is with her good friend Meryl doing their signature "W" pose. ("W" is for Mary's home state of Wisconsin and Meryl's home state of Wyoming.)



Bags packed and ready to go!



First stop: Boston. John took us to the airport and is keeping our car for the week. We also got to have dinner with him before we left. This is in front of the house where he's living this year.



Second stop: Los Angeles. Please don't ask me to explain why we flew from Boston to LA, as it's a long story. But doing so gave us a beautiful day of driving up Highway 101 and Mary got to see the interior of California for the first time. We saw a lot of the ocean, and even lots more agriculture. We tried not to rush ourselves too much, and we chose a few diversions so we could take in some sights along the route. Here we are in front of a cool mural in Santa Monica after breakfast.



And here's Mary at the top of Topanga Canyon Road, with the San Fernando Valley behind her. And her whole life ahead of her.