Shopping!

So – Around 9:30am on Friday, Nana Moosie and I headed out of town for an overnight shopping trip to Anchorage. We had money (thanks to generous donations and an understanding papa) for Christmas and wish lists from all 7 kids (My three, and the Ladybug’s 4), and determination to get good STUFF! they had STUFF in Anchorage and we needed STUFF! so Off we went, into the rainy mountain pass.

The hwy’s weren’t too bad, but the back roads and parking lots were ice scating rinks. They had the Avalanche warning posted, which of course is located

right next to the OUTHOUSES! and Oh BOY were those seats cold! Heh.

So, after a couple hours, we get to Anchorage in one piece, do our duties and call the fam and let them know we arrived safely, and then we stopped at Weebe’s for lunch. You see, when I was a kid, there was a place called Bookey’s here in the area. We used to eat there every saturday morning for breakfast, and for lunch with dad sometimes too. They had hands down the BEST greasy burgers ANYWHERE, and the fries – OH the fries! The owner, Mr. Bookey, would give us girls quarters to plug into the jukebox, and there was an arcade in the back, and oh man. The memories!

Well! when he closed up shop down here and moved to Anchorage, he oppened a smaller version of Bookeys, called WeeB’s. And so instead of going classy for lunch, we decided “Screw classy! give us old fashioned GREASEBURGERS!” and after saying hello to Mr. Bookey hisself (he was running the drive through window! – he’s like in his 70’s or even older, and last year faught off two armed robbers because h certainly wasn’t letting them get his money!) we sat down and feasted on my youth…

So. Freakin. Good!

Thus, fortified and ready, we started doing damage to the local area market. heh. Walmart was first, and after that, We began to wonder just WHERE we were going to put everything! We had offered to give someone a ride home from Anchorage if he needed it, and well, we were beginning to contemplate investing in one of those car top carriers for the ride home, so he’d have a place to sit.

After Walmart, we hit the local Toys R Us, and got more stuff, and then, as it was getting close to our dinner reservation time with Nana Moosie’s SisterFriend, we hit one last store, Silva Saddle, for Papa’s gifts (we’d researched this one before leaving home so knew it was there).

Then it was off to the Glacier Brewhouse for dinner. Oh. My. God. It was SO FREAKING GOOD. I’d never been there before, so trusted Nana Moosie’s menu choices, and oooooooooohboy!

First, we had Pizza. It’s “personal pan” sized pizza, but well, Neither one of us could eat the whole thing. It wasn’t drenched in sauce or cheese as the other places do, it was spicy, hand tossed thin crust FILLED with meat and all around yummy. I brought the leftovers home to the boy? and he declared it the BEST PIZZA EVER..

Then there was the desert. Oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhmygod. Peanut. Butter. Pie. I was pretty damn sure I’d died and gone to heaven, and spent my time protecting it from Nana Moosie’s wandering for while melting into my chair it was so orgasmically good. Ooooooh yummy! (Ok, so I shared, really. Nana also shared her SisterFriend’s ‘world famous’ bread pudding, and the three of us were quite content!)

On the way out, we peeked into the glass room where we can watch them brew their own beer. Alas, it wasn’t up and running at the time, but I took a picture anyway.

After a very filling dinner, we went to the Bed n Breakfast were we would be staying, which is HUGE and BEAUTIFUL and had a big ole pillow filled bed waiting for me

after I had checked my mail and met the magic coffee machine! (oh! how i love the magic coffee machine!)

Please note there is only ONE chocolate on that pillow! Nana Moosie stole the other one! hehehehe.

After breakfast the next morning – done up homestyle – scrambled eggs sausage fruit and the Magic Coffee MAchine! – we made a couple of calls to find THE gift for the boy (found the LAST pair in his size!) and we unloaded and repacked the trunk so that we had enough room for our passenger if needed, and discovered we still had room to fill! yay! and checked our lists so we knew where we were at and what we still needed to get. So – it was off to the giant Diamond Center for THE GIFT. We of course paused to take a picture of the tree inside above the skating rink:

Then, after the Diamond Center, it was to the Tidal Wave Book Store, where we found loads of good stuff, and because I’d never been, we made a stop at the Alaska Berry Products superstore in order to see their 20ft chocolate waterfall!

Please note the “no diving or swimming” sign along the top left side. *L*

So – after a last stop at Fred Myer’s, we were off and running home – thankfully without the passanger, as we have NO idea where we would have put him. Heh. A nice, uneventful yet tiring, ride home, and we unloaded (and I’d show you the picture of a well packed trunk, but well, who knows who might do some snooping!) and I got to pick up my babies, and then my baby (my computer, all fixed! yay!) and finally collapse into my chair with my newly fixed computer, and fresh made still warm cranberry bread that Ladybug and the kids had made. Yum.

When we arrived home, we found that Kevin’s work had send down a fruit basket and a 20pound ham for christmas, we had gotten some stuff donated from the school (Box of food and a couple gifts for the kids) and a gift card for the local grocery store from the LAdies Auxillery in the area. I’m astounded by all the things people have donated and given us this season, and though in many ways it’s a very sad christmas, it’s one that makes me very happy too. A lot of good memories are being made to walk hand in hand with our loss, and while nothing replaces daddy, we will still have a good Christmas, filled with family, friends, and laughter.

Much as my trip. Run on over to Nana Moosies and ask her about her TOOTHBRUSH.

hahahahahahah. *Runs*