Afternoon in Billings!

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Saturday we spent the afternoon in Billings. Half the way we had some snow on the road so it took us 1 h 45 min to get there. The drive from here isn't so very exciting or scenic. There are really not so much to see..I know there's a nice recreational area, despite the name Dead man's basin, where many people go swimming in the summer. Hopefully I get positively surprised when it's that time of the year...

Anyway, we had lunch at Cracker Barrel. It's a restaurant with homestyled, mostly traditional country meals. We like it and the kids always eat good. They also have a shop next to the dining area with all kinds of stuff. I know they might be a little more expensive there but I bought a new candle from WoodWick. ( around 20 $ for a medium, so at least cheaper than in Sweden...)

Since we live quite far away from Billings, and we try not to buy all out groceries in Lewistown (55 min from the ranch) we bought a membership at Costco. That's a food store where you buy larger amounts of everyday products and food. It costs 100 $ a year to be a member and if you dont get that back as a bonus (2% cashback) they pay back the difference if you get less than what you paid for the membership. You must be a member to go shop there.( It's like a big Ekohallen.) They actually have a good selection of wines and alot of organic products too! For us beeing a quite small family some packages are just too big so we still have to go to a regular store to buy some things. When it comes to buy groceries we have to think a little different so we always have a lot of food at home. At least buy for 1-2 weeks. I can't say I plan meals that far ahead ( could definately be better at that...) and I usually cooks without recipe..so we just make sure we have a good selection of vegetables, different kinds of meat and all basics at home. That way we can cook whatever we feel for...  All high quality beef we can eat we get straight from the ranch (when it's that time of the year, all of a sudden the freezer is full of nicely wrapped white packages...) it's a part of the job's benefits :-).

I think it's very interesting and a way to see each country's culture to go buy food. No matter where in the world I might be, I always like to go shop for groceries..  And here there are so much to choose between so now I just have to learn which products are good or bad health-and quality wise...! I do have some help from my nativeborn man... I'm gonna write more about products and prices later..today I show pics of a few things I like so far...(and yes I buy non-organic too...)

Billings also has a pretty big shopping mall. Today we ran out of time so we just made a quick stop so I could get my winter boots (we looked for a pair all over town before I finally found a pair in my common size..) and a Valentine outfit for Natalie.

When we go to Billings, we always make sure to stay long enough to go out eat dinner before heading home. That way both girls can fall asleep when we drive. A favourite place to eat is Famous Dave's. I can really recommend this and you can find it nationwide ( I think..) That's a bbq restaurant with good selection of both food and drinks. I like that you have (like many places) many options to get as sides to whatever meat you want...It's easy to keep a meat+veggies diet if you so wish...

Puh..sorry for my long post...and bad english! I just write...so sometimes you get bad grammar and spelling..