Shoppers brave blustery chill with just a few days before Christmas

With only a few shopping days left until Santa Claus spreads cheer and people awake to presents under trees on Tuesday, shoppers were out in force in Carson City.At Costco on the city's south edge, people were shopping in droves, others with carts loaded were lined up to check out, and still more emerged into the parking lot on a blustery and gray afternoon.Sandra O'Hara of Coleville, Calif., was among those loading her car in the chill air. She was asked if she had done Christmas shopping for children.“Actually, my husband,” she replied. “That's why I'm trying to hide it all.” Her husband, David, was inside the car, not unwilling to help but there because his holiday fare was among the items she was loading.“This is where we grocery shop and this is where we do Christmas shopping,” she said. From his perch in the car, her husband shared that the trip between Coleville and Carson City is 51 miles each way. He knows because he is with the office of the Nevada attorney general.Just south of Costco in northern Douglas County, Wal-Mart and other retail outlets also were handling scads of customers as folks readied themselves for the imminent holiday.