Keri went to Anchorage for about a week, and arrived back home looking like a smuggler. He walked through the door, and I barely got a hug in before he was emptying the pockets of his snow jacket, snow vest and snow pants. That man must have been carrying 20 pounds of butter on his person!
He spent his last two evenings in Anchorage doing nothing but shopping. My hero! (Actually, he was shopping until about 3:00 AM both nights.) We are almost out of food at home, and buying stuff in the village is outrageous. A gallon of milk costs $12. Stuff is just downright pricey. But since that is a problem through the whole of the Bush, Anchorage is set up to accommodate it. They have some big stores (like WalMart and Fred Meyers) that have 24/7 bush order departments. You simply stock up your shopping cart, and they box it up and ship it off for you COD (cash on delivery). I hear there is also a post office open 24/7 for those who want their stuff shipped faster. It’s cheaper to shop that way than to buy it in the Bush.
The last night, he got all the produce and frozen stuff. He’d taken two empty totes out with him on the plane. He filled one tote with long-lasting produce (like potatoes and carrots and stuff) and mailed it back. The other tote, he filled with frozen stuff and short-lasting produce (like lettuce and kiwis) and was going to take it on the plane. Word to the wise—don’t try shipping bananas. No matter how you pack them, they just don’t survive. You get to the other end with brown mush. Anyway, the airplane tote was about 20 pounds too heavy—so he took out the butter and filled every pocket and crack and crevice in his clothes with the stuff. Then the tote weighed in perfectly. The plane was just as heavy, but at least the tote passed inspection.
You’d think carrying butter on the body might be a problem. You know—melting? But it actually works just fine on these flights, because the planes aren’t heated. You combine an Alaskan winter with high altitude flying, and it gets pretty nippy. So we wear long johns, sweats, jeans, snow pants…. We layer up for survival—not comfort. It’s definitely not the way to lounge back and relax. But it’s a great way to smuggle 20 pounds of butter.
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Debi, I love hearing these stories of life in the Bush. I was just wondering this week about how you get fresh food and now I know. Thanks for all the detail. I also wondered if your kids get treats like candy. What about milk? And I know I wouldn't do well without chocolate...do you keep a good supply of that at your house?
ReplyDeleteCandy is occasional, but not near as prized as an orange. Milk is a rare commodity. We buy boxed shelf milk, but it tastes weird so the kids will only use it on cereal—they won't drink it. But we've been out of that for about three weeks, so we've been using canned milk. We just can't afford the fresh stuff. ($12 a gallon) We did get some fresh stuff a couple weeks ago because it was going to expire the next day, so it was half price. The boys had it devoured in minutes. Keri picked up a bunch of the boxed stuff, and it is being shipped. We will also place a bush order for milk and meat. (You have to have a combined weight of a thousand pounds or something ridiculous like that. So a bunch of us get together and place an order.) As for chocolate—it’s a definite necessity. And chocolate chips do nicely. Pop half a dozen of those, and the chocolate monster is satisfied.
ReplyDeleteWe finally gave up on buying milk here, it is just too much stress to tell my 3 year old that she can only drink one cup of milk and then water because it is too expensive! We use the church powdered milk, it taste good, and now my 3 year old can drink as much milk as she wants :-)
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