Save Big Money at Menards

One of the projects remaining in this house is to remodel the basement bathroom.  The plan is to demolish the existing 1/2 bath and build a 3/4 bath.  Despite the fact that gas is now in the $4/gal. range, we knew we could save about 30% by purchasing most of the materials at Menards in Marquette.  The savings on the shower alone would easily make up for the cost of gas.  So, we made a list and scheduled our road trip for Thursday.  It was a beautiful day for a drive. 

The scenery was pleasant and traffic was light as we traveled down the highway cutting through some rocky hills on the way to Marquette.

We hit a traffic jam as we had to stop at a railroad crossing at one point.

Most of the railroad cars were filled with logs.

We were making great time, so it wasn't long before we made it to Ishpeming and the landmark mentioned in the picture below.

The biggest surprise of the day was the amount of snow remaining on the ground as we got closer and closer to Marquette.  We actually saw bare ground in many areas.  That is not common at this time of year.  Finally, our destination was in sight.

We must confess that we drove right by Menards and headed to the other end of Marquette first.  While we were in town, we weren't about to miss the opportunity to visit another favorite place:  The Huron Mountain Bakery.  We picked up some muffins and bagels to take back to Calumet with us.  Yum.  OK, now that our breakfast cravings were satisfied, we headed back to Menards.

We spent 3 hours in the store making sure to get everything on our list and a few more things that we spotted as we made our way down the aisles.  Steve and I both tend to plan and research things carefully, so we're pretty good at making fast decisions when we're in a store.  Thus, Steve had plenty of time to inspect each and every 2x4 for quality and straightness.  We knew ahead of time that Menards was having a kitchen and bath sale, so most of the items we needed were on sale.  That's always a good feeling.  Ask me how often I like to pay full price for anything!

Since our list was long and contained a lot of large items, there was no way we could put everything in a shopping cart.  Menards will print up an invoice for large items.  You take the invoice to the check out, drive around the back of the store, and they'll load the items for you.  Our favorite sentence of the day was, "Send it to Door 11."  I sat in the truck as it was being loaded with those large items and couldn't help but notice the scenery.  Even when you're sitting in back of Menards, you get a decent view!

As we headed home to Calumet, we enjoyed the colors of a lovely sunset.

Our discussion in the truck once again turned to the subject of how much we love it up here.  We feel so very blessed to live in this area.    

All is well in the Keweenaw.