August, 2009


9
Aug 09

Day 3: Avi Resort & Casino – Fort Mojave

Map picture

I made a discovery today. We’re not actually in Laughlin – we’re in Fort Mohave in Arizona. Also learned that Avi means money in the native language of the Pipa Aha Macav (People by the River).

In the morning, we all headed over to Bonanza Cafe in Fort Mojave, outside of the casino grounds. It’s small cafe that appears to feed quite a few visitors and locals. I had my staple of corned beef hash with eggs over easy. It’s interior reminded me of what diners looked when I was a kid, before the introduction of standardized and sanitized interiors of which we’re all familiar given the various Denny’s and Denny’s-like chains that have cropped up. The closest thing I could compare it to is “A Bite of Wyoming” in San Jose, but not quite as good. If you’ve ever been there, you’ll know what I’m talking about (well recommended by the way…). We’re supposed to meet with Angela’s mom at noon, back at the casino.

Everyone had a great time. Lulu had toast for the first time – to no surprise, she enjoyed it and managed to eat some, while managing to scatter bits over herself and the vintage 70’s high-chair. Ana had a HUGE breakfast (not any bigger than the rest of us) – toast and two servings of cereal. Myles and Savannah had their breakfast-out staples. You really couldn’t pick a better place to build this kind of memory.

Afterwards, we were off to Target to buy things we sort of needed. To our surprise, Angela bumped into both her mom and Jim! No need to rush back to the casino! As to be expected, we paid for our stuff, bought some Starbucks and headed back to the hotel.

For the rest of the day? We were supposed to spend the day at the beach, but with molten sand and no cabanas, no way. Instead, we spend the day at the pool – a nice break from the 100-degree or so heat. For the most part, Myles and Ana were gathering kids together and playing. That was a pretty cool site. Lulu spend time with pretty much everyone, but she enjoyed her time with Yaya while in the pool. To everyone’s amazement, she started kicking like a frog once she got in the water. Next time I need to bring the video camera.

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Middle: Savannah, Right: Myles needs sunblock

Next thing we knew, it was time for dinner. Off to Native Harvest Buffet for dinner and off to bed… until tomorrow…


9
Aug 09

Day 2: Bakersfield, CA to Laughlin, NV

Avi Casino and ResortWe arrived at the Avi Casino and Resort just outside of Laughlin, Nevada around 4pm on Saturday to a nice and balmy 104-degree. Savannah, Myles, Lulu and Angela are travelling well so far… only one mishap. Lulu fell of the bed this morning. Poor thing… she’s all better except for a mark on her face….

We met up James, Jessica and Ana and met up with Angela’s mom.

So far, Avi is an interesting place – your typical visitors to desert resort / casinos.

We go exploring tomorrow….


8
Aug 09

Day 1: San Jose to Bakersfield

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We’re in beautiful Bakersfield. Today was strictly a traveling day to get us closer to Bullhead City without overdoing it.

Map picture

There were police tons of police as we drove through Pacheco Pass – they caught tons of speeders.

Other than me being sick, it was a relatively good start to the trip. Of course, we had the obligatory “last-15-minute” Lulu meltdown. Other than that, we checked into the Holiday Inn Express to get ready for tomorrow.

We were missing some important items when we checked in, so we paid a visit to the local Walmart and Target just for fun. We had Jack-in-the-Box for dinner…

Now it’s bedtime.