Living in Kansas City, I became accustomed to having Walmart and Target a few blocks away from my house. If I needed anything I'd hop in my car and drive to the store. Things are different in Homer. If it's not at Safeway or Ulmers True Value (which has a little bit of everything at a high price), I put it on a list for Ancorage.
This week, Jon and I decided to make a quick trip to "the big city" for some Christmas shopping. The last time we made a trip to Anchorage was two months ago. Our next trip probably won't be until May. So, you get an idea how rare these big shopping opportunities are.
Weeks prior to our trip, I had an incredible "itch" for some shopping time. If you know me well, you know I'm not one of those "shop 'til you drop" girls. I get what I need and I'm done (especially when it comes to grocery shopping). Shopping actually stresses me out. However, I thought I was having a change of heart after living two months in a small town where there is no convenience shopping.
Monday morning we got in the car right when it started to snow. We drove past Anchor Point (approx. 15 miles at 35 mph) and the snow as beginning to lift. Driving in the dark when it's snowing really reduces the visability. The roads were farily good for winter conditions until we got to Turnigan Pass. It was snowing and blowing. We even saw one guy drive into the ditch on the other side of the road. Needless to say, we were back to 30-35 mph for a while. After finally arriving in Anchorage, I was presented with another challenge: recalling how to find my way around.
Our first stop was Walmart and I was enjoying crossing things off my list (and finding things that weren't on my list) as we walked around the store. I was quickly reminded why I stress out when shopping as we approached the cash register. The amount we spent was outside my comfort zone. Nevertheless, the things in the cart would last us for a while and I wouldn't need to spend the money in Homer. Unfortunatly, this provided little comfort to my tight-wad self.
That night, the Kinneys opened their home to us again. Kelby played with Daisy and we had a nice visit with everyone. The following day we ate gigantic muffins for breakfast and finished our shopping. Halfway through our day, I became aware of how much I enjoy living in Homer. It's quiet and uncomplicated. Anchorage traffic was busy and there were too many streets to remember. Plus, we don't have hundreds of stores to blow our money at. It's an all-around great place to live! I hope I don't ever have an "itch" go shopping again; however, I am only human.
Nevertheless, our drive home was the most adventurous part of our trip. Before leaving Anchorage, Nancy told me the DOT was blasting avalanches off the mountains along the Seward Highway (the road home). Thankfully, we called in and they had finshed by the time we were ready to drive out. As we began our trek along Turnigan Arm, we encountered rain and high wind. It turned to snow and wind as we climbed up Turnigan Pass. Back to driving 30 mph. We travelled this speed for over 50 miles. The snow let up and turned to rain as we approached the Spur Highway turnoff. Due to the warmer temperature and melting, the road was rather bumpy with ice chunks, thus causing us to continue at our slow speed. It was like driving on a road with deep potholes.
As we approached Soldotna, the roads appeared to be improvivng. We stopped for a late dinner and contiued up the road. Clam Gulch came into view and so did more snow flakes. It continued to get thicker and before we knew it, we were at 30 mph on unplowed roads with about 10 ft. visability. Soldotna is still 2 hours from Homer in good weather. Needless to say, what should have been a 4 hour trip from Anchorage turned into 6. We made safely home...to the bottom of our driveway.
Unplowed driveways and minivans don't mix.
Jon gave it a few tries and we decided the best thing was to park it at the bottom of the church's second driveway entrance. Thankfully we had our (new) boots in the van with us because we got to hike up to our house in about a foot of fresh snow. We grabbed our backpacks, Daisy, and a few of the more expensive items we purhcased in Anchorage and hiked to the top. I prayed no one would find our vehicles with hundreds of dollars of merchandice inside.
It was safe and untouched in the morning. It was like Christmas unpacking all the bags and putting everything away...even if it was a box of cereal or a package of warm socks.
So, that's my story. I learned that I like the simple life and I didn't like being caught up in consumersim (or traffic). I've observed that Homer is a thrifty town. They use what they have and don't care if it's not the newest and latest thing. They're happy, satisfied. I want to learn from them.
And even though I may have had a little bit of a grumpy attitude upon getting out of the van to hike up the hill, I still enjoyed the experience. I thought to myself: only in Homer.
Our move took us to a simpler, slower place as well--but the nearest Wal-Mart is only 45 minutes away rather than 4 hours! Still, I can appreciate what you're saying about finding a new pace as consumers--I have found we didn't NEED nearly as much as I had felt we did when it was all so easily accessible. Our income, and therefore our budget, is much smaller than it was in KC, but the adjustment hasn't been quite as painful as I had anticipated!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear you're doing well in Homer and that you're finding ways to learn from the community you've been called to! I have no doubt that God will continue to richly bless you both!