March 1997, I had the opportunity of a lifetime. Even though I had already graduated, my old High School invited me, and two other graduate students, Chad and Karen, to tag along on a trip they took to California. It was officially called the Silicon Valley Educational Tour. I, along with about twenty other people, got to go to California and tour Hanna Barbera Animation Studios, and Disney Animation Studios, we went to the World Animation Celebration, and I finally got to meet Philip Alexy, an animator at ILM, who I had talked to many times through e-mail, but had never met face to face. Of course, we also went to Disneyland, Universal Studios and Alcatraz while we were at it. The trip lasted from March 26 to April 1st.

I've got a lot to say about this trip, so I've broken it down. Take your pick: