California 2025 Trip--Day Three

Day three of our California trip took us to a couple of different places.

I went and did some caching while everyone else visited a Google office, discovering a dino with a flamingo and finding other treats.

Neither dino nor flamingo is in good shape!

Getting your picture taken may not be a treat

We visited Shoreline with the historic Rengstorff House (which was not open for touring). The nearby lake and bit of San Francisco Bay provided nice walks.

Rengstorff House

The original owners bought a windmill from Montgomery Ward for less than $50 in the early 1900s. They had to put it together to irrigate their farm and home, but probably well worth it!

Water house and wind mill in the backyard

The shoreline...no, really!

We drove over to a local library to kill some time before meeting family at Stanford University for a picnic and some exploring.

Mitchell Park Library

On campus, our first stop was the Rodin Sculpture Garden to see some of the great works of Auguste Rodin.

Sign we were in the right place

Claude Lorrain stands up high

Orpheus

The family was cool enough to recreate Three Shades, the sculpture, in real life!

Three Shades become six!

Martyr

The star of the garden is a casting of The Gates of Hell, one of Rodin's masterpieces that incorporates The Thinker and Three Shades at the top. The Gates are flanked by statues of Adam and Eve.

The Gates of Hell

Adam

Eve

A Burgher of Calais and Jules Bastian Lepage were also immortalized by Rodin.

Burgher of Calais

Jean Bastian Lapage

Further in the campus, we saw their bell tower and the campus church.

Bell Tower and outer buildings

Church exterior

Inside was quiet and interesting.

Nave

Main altar

Organ

A fun thing about Stanford is that some of the fountains are okay for people to wade in! This fountain outside the bookstore was a favorite, though the student union had a deeper one that was more popular.

People allowed, not books

Smaller, deeper fountain

Trying to make a whirlpool