#30 - Bass Pro Shop

You are probably saying to yourself, "Really? A trip to a store counts as a new adventure??"  Well, there's some history behind this adventure -- and if you haven't ever been to a Bass Pro Shop, it really IS an adventure. 

The history goes back maybe 5-7 years ago.  My friend who lives in Orlando, extertainment capitol of the USA, bought a timeshare near Branson, MO.  My parents, when they were newly empty-nesters, traveled to Branson several times. They loved the shows and musicians.  It seemed to me the Branson crowd was largely 50+ in years, and I couldn't see what about that would attract my 30-something friend to want to vacation there every year.  When she said one of the reasons they chose Branson was because it was near a Bass Pro Shop and that her husband, an avid fisherman, loved those stores, I thought  "Hmmm, a store that could actually influence the decision to purchase a timeshare?!?!? This must be some store!" I decided right then that sometime I would have to check out one of these stores.

Since then I have driven by many Bass Pro shops as we have criss-crossed the country on various road trips. During our massive "Great American Cox Family Minus One Road Trip" of 2008, when Craig was deployed, our travels took me and the kids past numerous Bass Pro Shops. Each time I would say,  "We should stop and check it out, but we don't really have the time."  In hindsight I'm not sure if we really were that pressed for time, or if I simply wanted to get where we were going.  When you're several hours into a long drive, the idea of delaying the arrival time just isn't appealing.

I decided that one day we would simply have to make the time during a road trip, because we didn't have any Bass Pro Shops anywhere near us in Colorado. Then, almost two years ago, when Josh and I were hanging out in one of his favorite locations - the local emergency room - we somehow got on the topic of Bass Pro Shops.  One of the people stitching Josh up informed me that we had one just up the road in Denver!  Boy, did I feel stupid!  It was just enough off our normal beaten path in the Denver area that I did not know about its existence.  Still, since that epiphany nearly two years ago, I have never taken the time to go check it out.

So, when a completely different new adventure got postponed due to schedule conflicts a couple days ago, I decided that the day wouldn't be a waste, and I would finally go check out this mystical Bass Pro Shop.  The kids and I piled in the van on a beautiful fall day and made the short 1 hour drive to Denver.

Did you check out the picture at the top of this post?  HUGE doesn't do this store justice.  Upon arriving I could only imagine what was inside.  Then we entered. This was not a store. It was a Disney attraction - a small scale theme park - an outdoor adventure under a roof!  Wow!  I don't know where to begin. The sheer size was mind-boggling. It is over 4 acres large!  But more than that, the abundance of more things than you possibly take in was overwhelming.   There were more animals (albeit dead and stuffed) in this store than in all of Pike National Forest.  Trees towered over us.  Mannequin rock climbers scaled the walls around us, There was a huge fish tank sporting all kids of big fish that I'm sure fisherman would love to catch, but whose names I have no idea about because I'm not a fisherman!  There was a shooting range which captured the boys' attention for quite some time (and the pictures of which were lost when my cell phone died).  There was a classroom for various trainings they hold. There were departments ranging from food to housewares to clothing to camping supplies to boats to guns to ice fishing huts to just about anything possibly related to the great outdoors.  There was a sit-down restaurant and a Starbucks. For the season there was a Santa's wonderland. There was simply so much under one roof that the capital required to open one of these stores absolutely blows my mind.  It makes WalMart look like a hole-in-the-wall variety store.

While I'm not one at all to rush the Christmas season, I'm willing to give Bass Pro shops a little slack. It probably takes them a full month to complete their decorations, and they are well underway already. Santa's Wonderland was still in process, but much of the rest of the store was already decorated for Christmas. And, they won bigtime bonus points from me because during our hour spent in the store, they played BOTH Bing Crosby and Burl Ives!  To me it simply isn't Christmas without those two, and my family has learned that they WILL be subjected to hours of Bing and Burl each Christmas, so they barely even put up a protest anymore; they just roll their eyes.

It was a really fun new adventure. The kids, especially the boys, agreed they were glad they decided to come with me.  They're already saying we need to make another trip up there shortly to show dad.  If you are ever driving cross country and see a Bass Pro Shop, make the time to go check it out. Stretch your legs for a half hour or so, and you will definitely be wowed!