Heidi is settled down for another rest, setting a record for time on the hard. Dave and I arrived in Washington State last Monday late and have been busy trying to establish reliable, affordable cellular and internet communication since then – as well as checking out food sources, visiting the library, medical visits, and the like.
I am, once again, feeling a bit of culture shock from the volume of choices available in everything from food to electronics – and from the prices as well. No wonder so many people are anything but healthy. One has to have both the financial resources and the will to spend extra on healthy food. I have not really looked to see what is available on an extremely low food budget, but the things I really want are vastly outside my normal food budget – as in organic fruits and vegetables. Even the non organic are more expensive than I am used to abroad.
Still trying to figure out a schedule here. For those in the Pacific NW, please give me some idea of when we might be able to visit, as I’d love to see you if possible. (I’m currently based in Snohomish.)
Finally have decent internet here!! Better than in the Caribbean. Only about 3Mb/sec but by our standards, that’s good.
Cheers, Robn & Dave
Alegria1976's Blog 
Dear Dave and Robn Read your latest blog post. Glad you are safely in the Pacific NW.
Regarding eating healthy food at a reasonable price, sometimes it is necessary to approach the idea ‘outside the box.’ You clearly don’t have time to plant a garden while there, which is one way of cutting costs and ensuring a supply of good-quality, affordable food. However, there are things you can do that will help. If you have the use of a car while there, consider small trips to farms and farmer’s markets where buying direct from the farmer will be significantly cheaper than buyer in regular stores. You’re cutting out the middleman, trucking, packaging, distribution, shelf space in grocery stores, etc. See if there’s a CSA you can participate in for the short time you’re there, even though it’s not a complete season. This is a very good way of lowering costs and getting access to great, local, organic produce.
Here’s a link to the Eat Well Guide. You can refine the search by keying in your exact zip code and it will give you the mileage from where you are to each of the places listed within a particular radius of your location. I have it set at 20 miles, but you can change that. This will include farms, farmer’s markets, CSAs, health stores, cafes, restaurants… pretty much anything you want it to include that passes their standards. Check it out. http://www.eatwellguide.org/search/results You can also make an effort to choose the foods that are in season locally and, even in conventional markets, those should be priced lower than produce being shipped from Chile, Italy, NZ, Asia…
I hope these suggestions help. And I look forward to talking with you on Wednesday morning. Are you still up for such an early call? It will be 6am your time.
Warmest regards, Ingrid
From: Alegria1976’s Blog To: ingridcode@yahoo.com Sent: Monday, June 15, 2015 1:41 PM Subject: [New post] Arrived WA #yiv7965856351 a:hover {color:red;}#yiv7965856351 a {text-decoration:none;color:#0088cc;}#yiv7965856351 a.yiv7965856351primaryactionlink:link, #yiv7965856351 a.yiv7965856351primaryactionlink:visited {background-color:#2585B2;color:#fff;}#yiv7965856351 a.yiv7965856351primaryactionlink:hover, #yiv7965856351 a.yiv7965856351primaryactionlink:active {background-color:#11729E;color:#fff;}#yiv7965856351 WordPress.com | Dave & Robn on ALEGRIA posted: “Heidi is settled down for another rest, setting a record for time on the hard. Dave and I arrived in Washington State last Monday late and have been busy trying to establish reliable, affordable cellular and internet communication since then – as well as ” | |