Run #23: Mitchell Earth Sciences, Montag Hall, Moore Materials Research, Mudd Chemistry, Music Rehearsal Facility, Nora Suppes Hall, Oak

A rare Monday run!  We're getting nervous that the weather will turn cold and wet before we have a chance to finish.  Or, at least, that's what Ira keeps saying as an excuse to get me tired.

First stop today was the Mitchell Earth Sciences building.  Ira said "I'm a fan."  "Why?" I asked.  "Because of the rock library."  Let's move on.

Next was Montag Hall.  You might think this has something to do with Fahrenheit 451, but, no, it is the home to the admissions department.  It is right by the Ford Center, and Ira claims this used to house the entire athletic department administration.  But, now, it's admissions.  Lots of dreams are either made or crushed here.  I wonder if they ever have crazy parents showing up knocking on the door.  I bet they have good stories here.

We headed back toward the Quad, and Ira really didn't know where we were going.  I did!  It was the Moore Materials Research building, named after Intel founder Gordon Moore and his wife Betty.  When we touched the door, a guy was walking down the hall in a white lab coat.  I bet they do all sorts of cool stuff in here, and I bet they have crazy equipment.  This was our first lab coat sighting outside of the Med School, I think.

It was a quick trip to the Mudd Chemistry building.  We'd run by it yesterday and made a mental note, so we knew exactly where it was.  You've probably heard the expression "Your name is mud," but did you know that it may come from the fact that a Dr. Samuel Mudd treated John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated Abraham Lincoln.  OK, a quick Google search says that may be an urban legend, but did you know that John Wilkes Booth evaded capture for two weeks and made it to another state?   Well, in any event, the Mudd Chemistry building was pretty busy today.

We had a good run to the other side of campus for the Music Rehearsal Facility, which is basically the Band Shak for the Leland Stanford Junior (pause) University Marching Band.  The band has been in at least two different places since I was a student, and they sort of trashed or destroyed both of them.  Now, they have a back room of the Avery Aquatics Center.  Here's what I think of the LSJUMB: they are probably only funny about 10% of the time, but, when they are, they are really funny.  I'm pro.  And I'm really glad that, at football games, they now publish the transcript of what they are saying on the jumbotron.  That makes it much easier to figure out what is going on.

Done with the M's, we headed to Nora Suppes Hall, all the way across campus near the Carnegie Institution.  (Or is it Carnegie Foundation?  I get mixed up.)  The route we took, by the way, was pretty excellent.  We have certainly gotten much, much better at taking the shortest route from one place to another.  Anyways,  something fun happened at Nora Suppes.  We touched the door a bit too loudly, and a man walked outside and asked if he could help us.  I said "no, we're just running," since it wasn't the right time to tell him about the blog.  I did ask him about the cool sign on the door that said "Center for Everything."  He explained that this was the department of interdisciplinary studies, so they do everything.  Good answer, although the Li Ka Shing Center of Learning and Knowledge might be in competition for "best building title."  Here's a picture of the sign.

Our last stop was right across the street at Oak, one of the tree trailers.  Not much to say about these, but I will tell you we ran pretty darn fast back to Wilbur Field.  Sub 8:00 pace, to make up for our pathetic running pace yesterday in the heat.

Distance: 5.1 miles (115.4 overall)