Here's some tips/thoughts for people visiting from out of town:
In terms of airports they're both (SJC and SFO) pretty close, but SFO might actually be closer. If you find cheaper tickets at OAK, that's not even that crazy if you rent a car anyway; even if you fly in on Friday during rush hour to Oakland, you're going to be going counter commute on the bridges.
If you have time, GO to San Francisco. There are many fair criticisms of the city, the people, state whatever. Its not anywhere close to the dystopian hellscape some people make it seem like. If you stay outside of some niche areas you have no reason to go to, you might not see a single homeless person at all. Go the Bridge, go the fisherman's wharf, go to all the touristy places. You'll enjoy it. Bring a medium jacket;/sweatshirt/hoodie; it'll be cold. An option to get there is to take them
Cal Train Palo Alto Station to the final stop in San Francisco and walking from there.
Stanford itself is a unique and beautiful campus. If you go up Hoover tower, you'll get a beautiful view of the entire Bay Area; I think its free to do so. There's also a LOT of really cool naturey areas and hikes around. IF people are interested in those, just respond and I can recommend some. One that's on campus is a hike around the famous
Stanford Dish.
In terms of food, the best Asian food in the entire country is arguably in and close to Palo Alto. I think akm91 already mentioned a Chinese spot. Good sushi is everywhere here. One of the fanciest Indian restaurants in American is in Palo Alto:
Ettan. I have some other recommendations for Indian food further south too if people are interested.
The weather will be nice! Bring sunglasses and prepare for night to be colder than you expect. I hope everyone enjoys their visit! Hopefully the Ags advance!