We got up promptly, and quickly ate our carefully planned leftovers, since we would be turning in the RV today. Before we could do so, we had several important tasks to do: draining the RV tanks at a nearby campground, drive the one hour to the Oakland airport to pick up a rental car, fill the RV with gas, and return the RV – all before noon, since it was a Saturday. Thankfully all went quickly and smoothly, which was a nice birthday present for me.
From Oakland we crossed the San Francisco Bay, but at this point we diverged from Pop Pop’s route. We headed south to Palo Alto, to connect with Aaron’s college roommate, Patrick, whereas, Pop Pop had proceeded directly to San Francisco, his primary destination:
June 13th, 1922 (cont.)
We kept right on plugging westward now and by 6.00 P.M we pulled into Oakland, Cal. A very large place and beautiful. We still had seven cents left. The fare across to Frisco on the ferry was 8 cents a piece on the freight ferry so we had to stem a guy for the rest. There was an awful fog so we couldn’t see Frisco till we were almost across the bay. The ferry landed at the dock and we walked into the city of San Francisco at five minutes after six on the 13th of June 1922. Our journey was over. That is our journey we had set out to complete.
Phila. – To – Frisco
Frisco is quite the town. You can see where the earthquake hit it. One part of the city is new while the other is old. Here we were at last. Broke and no grub as yet.
Our own entry to San Francisco would have to wait for tomorrow, as today would be a kind of a down day, after the intensity of our past week. Despite the fact that it was my birthday, I didn’t mind going with the flow, since the entire past week was more than enough of a birthday present.
After a fun birthday dinner with Patrick at a local Mexican restaurant, we hung out at Patrick’s planning our day in San Francisco tomorrow, and even fitting in a short nap. Later in the afternoon, we bid Patrick goodbye, and headed off to Stanford University, where Pop Pop actually stayed a few days on his way out of San Francisco:
June 14th, 1922
… From Frisco we took a trolley car to San Mateo. Arrived there at about four in the afternoon. Here we looked up the people we had met in Mo. ... We were now going south on the most beautiful road I ever saw. By six we hit Palo Alto where the Stanford University is located. I’ve seen many pretty colleges but this is one can’t be beat. The architecture is Spanish and sure makes a wonderful sight in among the palms and century plants. Well we found the D.U. {Delta Upsilon} House here and received a hearty welcome and a square meal. That night we took a swim in the pool and hit the hay early. Each Frat house has its own private pool.
June 15th, 1922
After a good nights sleep in a bed we had breakfast at a table. Got a hair cut and looked a little bit better. Went swimming in the pool. Looked Stanford over also the town of Palo Alto. Hit the hay early.
June 16th, 1922
Up early and out on the road again. This time we left our nap sacks and stuff at the D.U. House as we were only going down the valley looking for work. Sure felt funny with out them. Cherrys were sure plentiful so we tried to get a job picking them. We had no luck as they wanted experienced help. Got back to Stanford at six with a gut full of cherrys. Watched a dance that night from a window. We planned to leave in the morning.
As usual, we spent much less time than Pop Pop did, as we explored Stanford. I wanted to see the pole vault facility and Aaron wanted to see the baseball stadium, so we split up for a bit. Then we all went together to look for the Delta Upsilon house where Pop Pop had spent several days. Delta Upsilon is no longer active at Stanford, but thanks to some online research before the trip, we were able to locate the house, now called the Mars House, which is now independent student housing.
Next we headed to the Hampton Inn in Milpitas, the first hotel on our trip. After our road trip, it felt a bit odd to be in normal beds, but that didn’t keep us from getting a good night’s sleep. As Pop Pop would say, “we were all in.”
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