A Week in the States
We just got back from a week's vacation in the states. We went to Arizona for my grandma's 90th birthday, and Dave hopped over to California for a couple days to see his parents. Neither of us are big on shopping, but when we go to the states, shopping is a vital part of our trip. We buy clothes, because it's hard to find stuff we like here. We buy electronics since most places online won't ship them here (they consider us outside the US). We bring back lots of food too, either because we can't find certain items here, or because they cost way too much here. This trip we brought back almond butter ($5 at trader joes in AZ, $19 at the health food store on St Thomas), soynut butter (unavailable here), pumpkin butter (unavailable here), and a big bag of almonds (overpriced and sometimes unavailable here). We also brought back salad dressing, some which isn't available here, and some which is over twice as much here. What's more exciting than packing all of this in the checked baggage to bring home? Realizing it arrived in one piece after three flights! yay!
It's amazing driving on the flat, straight, wide roads in Phoenix. It seems so easy to get around compared to on St. Thomas. We relish trips to the grocery store in the states too. The produce section is the best - amazing variety and good quality produce (you should all appreciate it!!!). But even the aisles with cereal, granola bars, dried fruits, and meats are fantastic too. We've learned to go to the store the morning after we arrive, before anyone else wakes up, so we can take our time and enjoy it by ourselves just like kids in an amusement park, without boring anyone else.
Also while we were in Arizona, I ran my first half-marathon. The race organizers had predicted average weather: 45 as a low, 65 as a high. In reality, that Sunday had the coldest morning in Phoenix since 1990, the low was 28 and the high was 45! I nearly froze. We left St. Thomas with highs of 86 and lows of 75, so this was a huge difference for us. Luckily we'd left some warm clothes at our parents' houses and stayed warm by spending most of our time inside. The race itself was fun even though it was cold. Dave took photos of icicles in a parking garage and watched race volunteers rake the roads near the finish to remove ice. It took my friend Debbie and me 3 hours and 13 minutes. Maybe we'd have been warmer if we ran faster? Official race photos of us during the race are online. I think I came in 1900th place . . . in my age group!! The biggest race here is coming up next month - 8 Tuff Miles, an 8.3 mile footrace across St. John. There are about 700 participants. And it sure isn't flat like the Phoenix race was.
It's amazing driving on the flat, straight, wide roads in Phoenix. It seems so easy to get around compared to on St. Thomas. We relish trips to the grocery store in the states too. The produce section is the best - amazing variety and good quality produce (you should all appreciate it!!!). But even the aisles with cereal, granola bars, dried fruits, and meats are fantastic too. We've learned to go to the store the morning after we arrive, before anyone else wakes up, so we can take our time and enjoy it by ourselves just like kids in an amusement park, without boring anyone else.
Also while we were in Arizona, I ran my first half-marathon. The race organizers had predicted average weather: 45 as a low, 65 as a high. In reality, that Sunday had the coldest morning in Phoenix since 1990, the low was 28 and the high was 45! I nearly froze. We left St. Thomas with highs of 86 and lows of 75, so this was a huge difference for us. Luckily we'd left some warm clothes at our parents' houses and stayed warm by spending most of our time inside. The race itself was fun even though it was cold. Dave took photos of icicles in a parking garage and watched race volunteers rake the roads near the finish to remove ice. It took my friend Debbie and me 3 hours and 13 minutes. Maybe we'd have been warmer if we ran faster? Official race photos of us during the race are online. I think I came in 1900th place . . . in my age group!! The biggest race here is coming up next month - 8 Tuff Miles, an 8.3 mile footrace across St. John. There are about 700 participants. And it sure isn't flat like the Phoenix race was.
posted by Kendra at 1:31 PM
1 Comments:
i have similar shopping experiences when going back to the lower 48 from alaska. my grocery store needs focus primarily on trader joe's, which we don't have up here.
Post a Comment
<< Home