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Silicon Valley

The very intriguingly named 'Silicon Valley' is found in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, in the northern part of the fabulous state of California. It is confined to its location by the Santa Cruz Mountains on the west, San Francisco Bay on the east and the Coast Range on the southeast. Geographically, Silicon Valley actually makes up the northern part of Santa Clara Valley, which was originally colorfully named 'The Valley of Heart's Delight'.

The creation of such a fantastic name is credited to two friends; Ralph Vaerst, an entrepreneur, and Don Hoefler, a journalist. The word 'Silicon' initially came to be because of the large number of silicon chip innovators which sprung up in the area. In 1971, Hoefler wrote a series of articles for 'Electronic News', in which he spoke about this area, 'Silicon Valley', as if it were an area unto itself. It wasn't then, but it certainly is now. Though now the valley is not just populated with silicon chip manufacturers but many other high-tech businesses.

It is fitting that Silicon Valley should be located in California, the same state where so many big name celebrities live, because in Silicon Valley, the big name business celebrities live. Some of the companies which have bases or a significant presence in the valley include PayPal, eBay, Google, Intel, Yahoo!, McAfee, Facebook, Fujitsu, Apple Inc. and Adobe Systems. Perhaps the SEOs of all these huge companies get together for the odd cup of coffee and a chat on their lunch breaks.

A number of cities and communities are found in the valley, such as San Jose, Santa Clara, Newark, Sunnyvale, Fremont and Los Gatos. In these cities and other cities in the valley, there is plenty to do and see, if you are not visiting Silicon Valley merely out of business interests. The Arizona Cactus Garden, a.k.a. The Stanford Cactus Garden, is found on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto. With over 100 years of age, the garden has 30,000 square feet of beautiful cacti.

The Chinese Cultural Garden in San Jose is another really excellent way to pass an enjoyable few hours in the valley, enjoying and taking photos of some of the special features of the park including the Friendship Gate, the Plum Pavilion and the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. And finally, in Mountain View, you can head to the Computer History Museum, because while in Silicon Valley, do as the Silicon Valley residents do, and focus on technology. The museum is fun and educational, and makes a great way for a family to pass the day together.