Journal Entry Fourteen
World's Foremost Outfitter
Last Friday Julie, Jeff and Toni Laster, and I drove the two hours from Portland to Lacey. Jeff even took a day of vacation, because we were going to Cabela's!
With 25 stores in the United States and a huge mail order business, Cabela's is the best known hunting and fishing retailer in the country. The new store in Lacey has 185,000 square feet.
This store sells fishing equipment, bass boats, ski boats, guns, camping gear, bicycles, canoes, home and cabin accessories, and all types of clothing. There is an aquarium, a restaurant, an escalator, and there are two elevators. Cabela's has a gun library of high-end firearms. The most expensive shotgun in Lacey is $8,000, but other stores have shotguns priced at $25,000. (Think of a fine shotgun as you would a collector's Ferrari. It is easy enough to spend over $70,000 on a British double barrel.)
Imagining Cabela's to be an IKEA for guys, Julie and Toni had planned to visit a nearby movie theater. It is a tribute to the prices and selections that they never left. And, Jeff and I later agreed that we had never before spent 4 1/2 hours in a store!
Between us, we purchased clothing, a cot, gifts, and for me -- a bag of Atomic Fireballs!
