Aaron Klapheck's Website

The purpose of this trip is to get familiar with the area surrounding NASA AMES center. The following contains a log of the trip, mainly through pictures. My family (My wife, daughter, and myself) arrived on Saturday evening and stayed until Monday night.

My wife and I found an inexpensive hotel to stay for our visit. Because we chose the most inexpensive hotel in the area we hade some interesting experiences which I found very humorous. Overall I loved our stay at this hotel and I hope you enjoy reading about our experiences

European Room



My wife and I had never heard of this kind of room before so we decided to give it a try. We were surprised to see just how cozy this style of room is. This picture was taken outside of the hotel room (in the hallway). There is a little more of the room not shown to the left but this is basically the size of the whole room.

Megan loved the hotel room which made our stay that much more enjoyable.

Warnings


The shear number of warning signs throughout the hotel was quite surprising. Some of the signs, shown above, were displayed repeatedly on every floor. The large number of security cameras were nice to see; we knew that if our hotel room was broken into, it would be on tape. The frequent visits by the police to the hotel was a nice added security measure.

Emergency Exits



I was unsure of the need for the fire escape plans since it appears that we were not located in the hotel.

Restrooms



I also found the restrooms quite fascinating. We stayed on the north side of second floor along with 12 other tenants. We all wound up sharing the same two bathrooms and showers in the center of the hallway. One of the two toilets (shown above) I thought was interesting. Apparently once both sides of the toilet holder were broken off a new location for the toilet paper was devised.

My family was able to explore a lot of Sunnyvale and Meadow View. A few of the interesting places are described in detail below.

Sunday Morning

My family was able to attend the local church service.

Sunday Noon

My family was able to eat at the Fire House where we had great burgers. The Fire House is located on a nice small road called South Murphy Ave along with lots of other little shops.

Sunday Afternoon
My family was able to visit Stanford University which was unfortunately closed. We were able to see Hoover Tower near the center of campus though.

Monday Morning


Megan loved the local park. She found the musical walkway especially captivating.

Monday Noon

My family visited the Alta Mesa cemetery where we remembered the veterans for Memorial Day. The cemetery was beautifully kept and peaceful.


We found Google! My family was driving around the area west of AMES and spotted Google. We were able to do a little exploring and found a solar powered trash compactor on the premises; the first one I have ever seen.

Monday Afternoon


My family was able walk down the street Castro which contained a lot of small shops and restaurants. My family ate at the Hong Kong Bakery where we split a chicken pie and a chocolate white with almond. The food was terrific. We also bought a book and CD at Book Buyers.

Monday Evening

My family visited the Great Mall of the bay area; The largest mall I have ever been inside.

Due to time constraints not all of the places of interest were seen on this trip. This is because a large number of popular vacation spots are not open on weekends and holidays. Below are a few of the places that would have been nice to visit. I am planning on visiting most of these places at a later time.

• Intel Museum - See the silicon chips that give the valley its name. (Silicon Valley).
• The Technical Museum of Innovation - The innovations that revolutionized the world.
• Stanford University - Although my family visited here I would like to go on a tour.
• Great America - A fun place to be.
• Lock Museum - Both mechanical and historical.
• Computer History Museum - Learn about computers throughout the ages.

Comments, complaints, suggestions? Please let us know.

You do not need facebook in order to post a comment (although it is preferred). Just write something and hit Post.

Problem with making a comment? This commenting ability may not be accessible to computers on slower networks.