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My grandmother passed away recently. She didn't want a funeral service; she wanted a party. As such, I've been a bit preoccupied with helping my family prepare for it. I was in charge of putting together a PowerPoint slideshow with hundreds of pictures from her life. My mom and I spent many hours scanning pictures, and then we had to get them compiled into the slideshow. Finally, my cousin Dorene adjusted the timings and put in music. Dennis Anderson, a pastor at my parents' church, gave the service portion of the proceedings, and my mom delivered a biography of my grandma that she had written, with the collaboration of the rest of the family. It was beautifully done. Overall, I think my grandma would have been very pleased with her one last celebration.

This past weekend, I made the trek from Vacaville, California up to Crater Lake. On the way back, I also visited Redwood National Park, and drove the northern section of the pacific coast highway. I began by driving to Medford, Oregon after work on Friday. The following morning, I drove the eighty miles to Crater Lake. The lake is truly a remarkable place. Even though it's now April, the park is still a frozen wonderland, covered in foot upon foot of snow. Approaching the park, the plowed snow is piled ever higher along highway 62. The park itself is mostly deserted; the main drive around the lake isn't even plowed yet, and the snow is deep enough that most of the buildings are still snowed in. All that is plowed is a single roadway up to the rim, but at the top, one must climb twenty feet of snow to see the lake. The long drive and brief climb are rewarded with a fantastic sight. The lake is large, but not gigantic. The nearby mountains are not gigantic. The true beauty comes from the seclusion the park provides. The lake has no inlets or outlets; it is sustained almost purely by the enormous amount of snowmelt. The lake's azure blue contrasts beautifully with the elegant white snow. In short, it is stunning.

After visiting Crater Lake, I made my way to Grant's Pass, and then headed south to mingle amongst the gigantic Sequoia sempervirens, the Coastal Redwood. It is truly humbling to stumble upon 300-foot-tall trees while driving down the road. The trees are large enough to blot out most of the sun, allowing only the occasional ray of light through the canopy. There is also the occasional fallen redwood, opening a gaping hole, but overall, it's dark enough that it's necessary to drive with headlights on even in the middle of the day.

The final leg of my journey was driving down the coast on California Highway 1, the Shoreline Highway. After leaving the 101, I was met with over twenty miles of the windiest road I have ever driven, curving around mountains until finally arriving at the coast. Although foggy conditions hampered some of my efforts, I was able to see most of the coast along the highway. After driving over ninety miles on the two-laned road, however, I was more than ready to call it quits and head back to Vacaville. Unfortunately, hundreds of other people were in the process of leaving the area as well, and I was stuck driving behind them all. Finally, though, I did make it out of the rat's maze.

In total, I came away from the trip with nearly 1,500 pictures. I already had over 600 pictures in my queue to post, but I'm hoping to get them all up this coming weekend. There is even a slight chance that the new version of my web site will be up as well.

Well, I finally got around to going to Las Vegas (pictures to follow soon). I was hoping to get the chance on my old project, but that fell through. Anyway, Matt and Steven were going to be in Vegas over the weekend, so they invited me, James, and Tracy. Tracy couldn't make it because of work obligations, but the rest of us managed to make it. Matt and Steven stayed at the Venetian, but James and I decided to go the cheaper route and stayed at the Westin. Before James arrived, the three of us walked most of the strip, from the Venetian all the way to the Luxor. We went into some of the bigger hotels, and we had dinner at the ESPN Zone inside of New York, New York. Afterwards, we made it back to the Belaggio to see the fountains in action. The show was quite impressive. Needless to say, I took many pictures!

The following day, while waiting for Matt and Steven to wake up, I went over to Caesar's Palace. The Forum shops had a few impressive fountains, and also an aquarium with beautiful fish. Again, many pictures were taken. After the other two woke up, an James had arrived from L.A. through some very heavy traffic, we went to the Hilton to see the Star Trek Experience. We originally wanted to see Cirque de Soleil, but there weren't any tickets left. At any rate, my diamond status with Hilton got us tickets for close to half price. The two shows, one with the Borg and one with Klingons, were quite fun. After the shows, we went over to Fremont Street to see the old strip. We also had dinner there; I had a gigantic slab of prime rib. We then made it back to the Westin and played a few games of cribbage.

The following day, James and I went out to breakfast before he had to leave. Later, after they had woken up, Matt, Steven and I then went to the Luxor to see Dinosaurs at the IMAX. We then made our way back to their hotel, and I left shortly after.

Overall, I thought the hotels were very impressive. The casinos, however, I found to be quite expensive. I have absolutely no desire to play Blackjack or other games for ten to twenty dollars a hand. Slot machines, while affordable, are quite boring. I felt the same about the hotels and casinos on the old strip on Fremont Street, and I enjoyed their lights. Overall, I'm not sure why Vegas is so appealing to everyone. I enjoyed the sights, but I certainly don't think it's worth the extensive price gouging.