Lost Shopping

Lost, Lost, LOST! Today I took a detour in the downtown area. And holy cow! That place is a spider web. It’s not really that confusing, nor are you really that lost, but I was trying to follow the gps at the same time. (Side note: Derek’s old co-workers generously gifted him a gps.) It has been incredibly handy. Up until Tallahassee we were using it in already familiar territory in California. There we used it as a test. It told us some funky stuff, but we took it with a grain of salt and went with what we knew rather than blindly following it. I have done quite a bit of research on Tallahassee, so I knew the lay of the roads pretty well. I still maintain this is true to a certain extent. The problem has been the downtown area. None of the maps I have looked at have been all that specific on downtown routes, so seeing the organic and crazy nature of the roads is not that surprising. It has been difficult understanding what the gps wants me to do. I just don’t have the downtown knack yet. I worry I will use the gps so much that I will miss the clues for the different roads. But then again, I know I am over worrying this point.

What has been fun is learning what to ignore from the gps. To go to Target (those four simple lovely words!) it wants you to turn around in some neighborhood and back track a bit, etc. And right in front of us is the road that leads down to Target.

Can I now mention the lovely shopping here? Let’s see, we have only been to Costco (yes, it’s bigger, but it’s not hard for any Costco store to be bigger than Juneau’s), Target and New Leaf Co-op (which is equivalent to Rainbow or a smaller and local version of Whole Foods.) I have to say, prices are the same as Juneau’s prices. Which is terribly disappointing. There are a few items whose prices are higher (yes, higher!) or lower, but generally they are around the same price.

Oh, I forgot Wal-Mart. It is surprisingly hard to find a clothes drying rack in town. I had to go to Wal-Mart.

Saying Goodbye

Leaving Juneau was surreal. Living here (oops, I mean there) 10 and a half years, wondering if I would ever be able to leave. Knowing it was all about Derek’s work, would he ever want to leave this job? I think he might have been happy to work there a bit longer if I didn’t want to leave, but this opportunity fell in his lap. Admittedly, he had to work hard to actually get the position, but thanks to Elmer and Drew looking out for Derek, he might never have applied for this position.

The day left we had a great morning of saying goodbye to Juneau. We accidentally checked out a book from the library called “Goodbye House.” Molly took it very literally, if not seriously. We had to say goodbye to the rooms, ceilings, walls, backyard, and everything else. On our way to the house (we went via Mendenhall Loop) we said goodbye to our memories on that road and on the way back we went via Riverside and said goodbye to everything there as well. It’s funny, sitting here now I think of all the memories I forgot. (Molly’s first movie theatre experience, glacier walks, the pictures I always wanted to take, but didn’t)

By the time we got back to the hotel to check out, Molly was done with this game (and both kids were tired) and it was a struggle to get to the airport. It was a mixed blessing to get on the airplane. We all were exhausted and cranky and I was a bit sad. I think I was the only one awake to look out the window and say a final goodbye to the snow-covered town.