The Mythical Bigfoot

So we made a run to the neigh-upon-legendary Bigfoot store this morning. Ok, it's no Fred Meyer, but for Dillingham, it's actually pretty spectacular.

That's the building entrance. It's a pretty vanilla, non-descript steel building. Not much in the way of signage, but then again - it doesn't have to be. The outside isn't going to win any architectural contests, but it's what's inside that sets out to impress.

In not a great deal of space, somehow nearly everything you need to survive is here. There are few luxuries thrown in, of course. But if you need it to keep living, it's there in about 4,000 square feet. I can't imagine what it would cost to heat that in winter, but the locals tell me this is the second year of operation for Bigfoot, so I assume the owner(s) have it sorted out.

There is the Queen holding court. See that gi-normous satchel in the cart? That's what we euphemistically call a 'purse'. Trust me - on the inside that sucker must be miles wide for all that gets crammed into it.

Here's the true power of Bigfoot. Unless I miss my guess, the owner(s) take a trip into Anchorage a few times a year and load up those shipping containers and bring back the merchandise that way. Talk about buying in bulk! Between the shipping containers and the warehouse(s), they should be able to sock quite a bit away between trips. But how do they get the containers from the docks to the store? This :

We cut out the middleman, so you don't have to! Actually, I am kind of impressed for the nice little vertical solution to this market dilemma. They literally do everything in brining the products to the shelves, and have a decent depth and breadth to the selection. Now I know why the locals are all gaga over Bigfoot. For the middle of nowhere and then some, it really is impressive what they have done.

So if you are ever in Dillingham, Don't forget to stop by Bigfoot. Open seven days a week for your shopping convenience!

Getting Better All the Time

Well, it's sunny and 70 here in beautiful Dillingham, Alaska. Went for a short walk to grab some lunch and actually broke out in a sweat walking back to work.

As I looked about the town I noticed something I had not seen or noticed before. Just about every window in every inhabited building was open. It was a strange sight to witness.

So I get back to work and ask about it. After all, just a few days ago the girls up here were still wearing shorts and flip-flops when it was 48 degrees and rain. Surely it would take less than this to get the windows to open up.

Nope, that is what is called in Dillingham "air conditioning". If you have to open a window because of the 'heat', that's A/C. So if you are ever in Dillingham and someone asks you to turn on the A/C they really mean for you to crank open a window. I never really stopped to think about it, but I bet the cars around here don't even have A/C. No real call for it, I expect.

The only thing that isn't getting better here is the price of living. The price of gas is, until next year's delivery,  $6.81 per gallon. That is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, only having one fuel delivery a year means if gas should rocket to $10 per gallon in the lower 48, we wouldn't see that price increase until next year. The downside is if gas fell to a nickel per gallon, we wouldn't see that price until next year. Still, it is nice to be able to budget for fuel knowing exactly what the price will be for the next year.

Eggs can run $7 a dozen. No, I didn't mistype that. It would also explain why a whole mess of people up here raise their own chickens. I heard tell of one person who just slaughtered 108 of them to stock up the freezer for the coming year. I mean, I like chicken as much as the next person but... dang. That's taking it to a whole 'nother level.

The big excitement will be happening on Saturday. We have been promised a trip to Bigfoot. Don't ask. I don't know what a Bigfoot is either. I surmise it's the Dillingham equivalent of Wal-Mart, or Fred Meyer. It's a ways out of town, and not having a car meant not being able to go ourselves. Still, someone has taken pity on us, but not because we don't have transportation. No, they pity us because we HAVEN'T been to Bigfoot yet. People seem to talk about it around here in tones usually reserved for church.

I will, of course, have camera in tow to document this neigh-upon-religious experience. I don't know that it will be as large as Fred Meyer in Anchorage. Shoot, you could fit the Muscatine, Iowa Wal-Mart SuperCenter in the Fred Meyer produce section. Still, since the natives are done hazing us with the breath-taking prices on eating around these parts, we are appreciative and happy to go anywhere prices are less than Downtown Dillingham.