Travels, Part 3—Stanford University

Before the game we needed to find the right stadium, and we circumnavigated the Stanford campus several times before finding the visitor’s information booth. They obligingly told us that the name of the stadium had been changed, which is why we weren’t seeing it on the maps.

Stanford is beautiful. Palo Alto is beautiful. After seeing it I realized how quirky Berkeley was and wished I’d taken more photos there for your amusement. I got carried away taking pictures in Stanford because the sun was so glorious and we weren’t skirting hazards every moment on the road.

The buildings in color and architecture are very uniform but it is never boring because there are arches and porticoes and garden walkways and little surprises of beauty everywhere. How can they keep it so nice, I wondered, and was reminded that it is a private school with many endowments. Everything is a memorial. Memorial Chapel. Memorial Quad. Memorial arch. Hoover Memorial Tower. Memorial This. Memorial That. Even the stadium was Cagan Memorial on Maloney Memorial field. Lots of money here.

The front entrance drive ^ The visitor’s information center, with which we became well acquainted.

Dad enjoying a break while I take photos.

One of two weddings I saw going on here ^

Bicycles for Amanda

Having found our way to the correct field and a suitable parking area, we left to find dinner. Dad wanted to find a place he and Mom had enjoyed years earlier, and we did. Street parking. No meter. Too hot for my hair.

Then, back to campus for the game. It was a beautiful evening. The moon rose as the sun set. Lovely.

But, Portland lost this critical game. We were #3 playing #2 and hoping to beat them before going into the finals. It was supposed to be our big triumph only it didn’t happen and the Portland fans--50 or so-- were very disappointed.

The freshman band at half-time

Yes, that’s the moon on the right.

But, tomorrow is another day…