[drallison]

Visit the Universities and walk around campus. If you know what you will be studying, go visit with some of the faculty. People are generally friendly and open. Both UC and Stanford have open lectures, for example, the Stanford EE Computer Systems Colloquium, http://ee380.stanford.edu. Check out the Hacker Dojo in Mountain View and Noisebridge in San Francisco. Take a look at http://www.dorkbot.org/dorkbotsf/ for an ongoing program of people doing strange things with electricity.

There are lots and lots of things to do in the Bay Area. There's the wine country to the north, Big Sur, Monterey, and Carmel to the south. Don't miss the Exploratorium and the Computer History Museum. One of my favorites is the SF Waterfront. If you have an iPhone, there is an App for that: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/san-fran-waterfront/id4075675... that will guide your tour.