Apr 2014 – May 2014

Yes, this bear helps you do moves too.

Charges in the form of chocolate and candies may will apply.

Meet myself, negotiator extraordinaire.

We’re on a road trip to Bend to help Nicholas’ sister move, and I’m loaded up with chocolates and treats for this trip.

Nicholas’ sister called him for help with her move down to Hayfork.  She needed him to drive his other sister to Bend.  Naturally as his best bear bud and manager I intercepted the call, and had Nicholas negotiate sufficient compensation for this unexpected trip.

Trade deal: trip for ridiculous amounts of chocolate, candy, and energy drinks.

Deal struck, goods received, happy bear.

It’s easter and we all know that means easter goodies for me!

I got creme eggs.

We went on a family hike.

I got peeps.

Life is good.

Is Final Fantasy X.

Oh yes oh yes!

We’re just about home.  Final stop is Crater Lake.

We were thinking about camping here too, but given that the area gets 44 feet of snow a year and that the park is only officially open for July and August we decided we were a bit too early.

Still I wanted to drive by and see it.

Yep it’s still early.

There’s still a giant snowplough on standby.

Still fun to see it now before all the snow melts.

If only it wasn’t like a 2 hour detour to go.

We didn’t get to gamble in Vegas and I wanted to try my luck at Blackjack so we stopped in Reno on the way home.

And we booked a hotel that costed $25.  That’s right.  And it was the best valued hotel of our trip.  $25 for a 3.5 star hotel!  I loved it.  All it needed was free breakfast as part of that price.  Oh, and for those annoying smokers to go back to the smoking floor.

I loved it so much we ate our pho takeout in the hotel.  Actually we didn’t have a choice it was because all the restaurants were closing but I digress.

Now if only Nicholas remembered to TAKE me to play Blackjack instead of leave me in the room he would have had better luck.  Serves him right.

During our road trip we saw our fair share of ghost towns.

And finally we decided to stop at one of them.

Welcome to Goldfield, Nevada.  Home to boarded up houses, a historical court house and a fiery fire engine.

Founded in 1902, there were once about 30,000 people here during the goldrush and apparently a whole lot of tavern drinking.

And now it’s dead.

Apparently for Pokin, Vegas = buffets.

So instead of seeing all the shows we just went to the Bacchanal Buffet in Caesar’s Place in Vegas.

We were going back on the road again soon so we ended up eating at 10:45am.  It was a bit early for my best bear bud and I – especially since they started switching over to lunch foods already by 11:00, but I guess we got lunch for breakfast prices at least.  ($25.95 instead of $35.95)

Bacchanal Buffet is billed as the largest buffet in the world.  There are over 500+ dishes.  We got a quick tour.

I loaded my plate up right away with lots of desserts.  YEAH.

I guess it was too early for Nicholas so he couldn’t eat too much.

Pokin didn’t do too poorly, she filled her plates.

That was kind of fun.  I could have eaten more chocolate cake but I think it was way too much for my best bear bud and he felt a bit ill after.  Given that I weigh 186* and he only weighs 115* I weigh more and can out eat him too!

• if you ignore that one is grams and the other is pounds.  I’m dealing strictly with the numbers here.

So much to see and do!  You think they’ll let me play some blackjack?  I’m a high-rolling kind of bear.

Goodbye Page, Arizona!  We turned our car westward and southwards and headed towards the Grand Canyon.

Originally we had planned to camp overnight at the Grand Canyon, but 22oF / -5oC forecasts and our recent cold experience at White Sands made us rethink that idea pretty quickly.

Both Pokin and Nick had been to the Grand Canyon and both of them were underwhelmed during their last experience.  But since I’d never been, they took me just so I could see it with my own eyes even if we weren’t going to camp.  We got in from the east entrance and drove westward along the Grand Canyon park road.

I liked it.  I could see myself soaring over those canyons.

We started at Dessert View, which was actually the nicest since you could see the river.  We then stopped at various other points that we could drive to along the way.

By the time we got to the main Mather Point viewpoint I was already more interested in the wildlife and how they just didn’t give a hoot about the tourists gathered around.

Well I’m glad we got  a taste of it.  We could have taken the mandatory shuttle bus to see the rest of the viewpoints, but Nicholas had the idea of going straight to Vegas instead.  Vegas yeah!  Let’s go!