PART 5: 2011 American Road Trip – Computer History Museum, Silicon Valley, Apple HQ

Be sure to read Part 1 for a trip overview.

Travel Dates: 4/20/11

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A: Oakland CA – Motel 6
B: Palo Alto CA – Computer History Museum
C: Cupertino CA – Apple Corporate Headquarters
D: Golden Gate Bridge, Day
E: Berkeley CA – Dinner at Sea Salt
F: San Francisco CA – Castro District
G: Goldgen Gate Bridge, Night
160 miles
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Checked out of Motel 6 and headed to Palo Alto, CA, to see the Computer History Museum.

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It rained everywhere I went except for Las Vegas.

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Sun Microsystems

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Lots of Porsches of every vintage and variety all over San Francisco

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A taco truck! I could smell it.

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The museum covered everything from the abacus (actually, even earlier than the abacus) to Charles Baggage to mainframes to video games to wartime data processing. It was exceptionally, impressively thorough. I was exhausted by the end.

There’s too many pictures to describe and explain, so I’ll place the thumbnails here:


Fast Tube by Casper

We got to see an early hard drive from the 1950s in action, with all of its data still in tact!

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Checked out Apple in Cupertino

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This sign for Apple’s retail store, which used to only sell souvenirs but now sells computers, seems to be the only relic left of pre-Jobs Apple. I went inside and asked about the icon garden, but they said it was removed. The girl at the reception desk didn’t know what I was talking about — her coworker had to explain it to her.

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I wanted to meet Clarus the Dogcow, but was disappointed to learn that he was gone.

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Outside the retail store.

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I bought a keychain. There was something uncomfortably snooty about the staff and atmosphere. The mall retail stores feel open and friendly while the corporate store was stuffy.

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Went north to San Francisco to see the Golden Gate Bridge.

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Bonus: I saw a Tesla Roadster abandoned on the side of the highway just north of Palo Alto. I didn’t get a chance to take a picture, but I couldn’t help laughing. Range anxiety is very real. It figures that the first Tesla Roadster I see in person is one that’s run out of juice. I can’t imagine where the owner went. Maybe Home Depot for a 10-mile extension cord?

PART 6: San Francisco, Castro, Golden Gate, and Berkeley

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