Road Trip - Day 9 - Relaxation in San Jose
11:00am
We initially planned on seeing San Francisco today, but took it easy waking up. Several errands were in order. While Sachi tended the laundry at home, the rest of us went out and got some miscellaneous supplies, completed a needed oil change and tire rotation for the van, and I took care of some paperwork for PARS at Office Depot.
An aside: Back in May, Nader alerted me to an opportunity to attend a two summer program on polar aeronomy (PARS) at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. He was attending through his work with the VLF group at Stanford University, and said that it would be a good introduction to the field. I have never explored polar aeronomy, but Nader helped me write a proposal and I found out yesterday that I was accepted. I’ll be in Alaska from July 22nd to August 3rd. A busy summer indeed!
6:00pm
We visit a nearby park with Ronak and Eshaa and play some basketball and Frisbee. Later that night Sachi, Sapana, and I head up to Stanford and meet up with Nader. I last saw him in February when I attended an IEEE conference in San Francisco and he has been busy with finals week. Several projects and an exam due in the next few days. We drive up to the posh University Avenue in Palo Alto and walk up and down the street, talking and looking for a place to eat. After our indecisiveness, Nader takes us to an upscale California-inspired Indian restaurant. The entrees are pricey but the food is good…definitely a dose of gourmet California cuisine. We’ll see him again on Wednesday.
11:30pm
We get back home later than expected but Naman and I work quickly to remove excess material from the van for tomorrow’s trip to Yosemite. We triage a lot of stuff but it will make our lives easier in the pack. Back inside the home, I try to catch some shut-eye while the others stay up for a while reading Harry Potter books found in the house.
