Wheels!

It's been a while since I've last posted here, and that has a lot to do with my new ability to get out onto the roads.

After the transfer of ownership (finally!) at the company that Bob is working for, we headed out to get me a car. We had considered a used car, but that can be "iffy" if you don't know the person selling the car. And with some areas of the island being "iffy" themselves, Bob didn't want to have to worry about me having car trouble. So, we went with new. We had already done some shopping, so we knew exactly what we wanted ... but we are on an island in the middle of the ocean, you know :)

We wanted a 2010 4-wheel drive Toyota Rav4 without the third row seat and in a non-descript color, one that wouldn't stand out. But, after 3 days (!) of trying to buy a car (the dealership was having a sale in conjunction with the government credit union and wouldn't even know what they had available until the sale was over), we found that the only car they had that fit what we wanted already had 2,000 miles of demo driving on it - and the brakes were making a strange noise. And you can't just have a car shipped from another dealership ... what they have, they have. Period.

We still thought that car might work and waited to hear what the service department thought about the brake noise. But, no, the entire service department was unavailable to look at the car for a couple of hours, because a Toyota rep was visiting ...

So, due mostly to boredom and frustration, Bob (who really needed to be at the office all this time) suggested we go see what else they had on the lot. And here is what we ended up with:

It's a Highlander, not a Rav4. It has 3rd row seats. And it's obviously not a non-descript color :) But it IS 4-wheel drive!

So, now, I can do grocery shopping & errands during the week, and Bob & I can do fun things on the weekends. My next post will have beach pictures!

Oh, and on one of our first days out in the new car we saw another deer. The picture is a little unclear, because it was raining, but this is obviously no goat ;)

What "It's really expensive to live here" means

During a trip to the grocery store today, I decided I should explain just what that means.

First, electricity: a quick search on TXU's website shows rates that range from 9.60 to 11.70 cents per kilowatt hour.  On St. Thomas, WAPA (Water and Power Authority) charges come to about 40 cents per kilowatt hour.  And everything in our condo is electric, including the water heater.

Now, groceries.  Admittedly, we have found some good sale prices on meat lately, and that's made the new grill even more fun!  Also, liquor here is much less expensive, tho most wine isn't. Here are some purchases we've made recently:

     Campbell's tomato soup   $1.49
     Skim milk (1/2 gallon)   $4.49
     Wheat Thins   $5.49
     Hillshire Farm link sausage   $6.29
     Rotel tomatoes   $2.19
     Land O'Lakes butter (lb.-sticks)   $6.69
     Reynolds aluminum foil (200 ft)   $14.99
                    I just couldn't pay that, so I got the off brand for $9.99
     Haagen Dazs or Ben & Jerry's ice cream (pint)   $7.29   no Bluebell :(

Obviously, ice cream is going to be a rare treat!

Weather!

Once again, a tropical system is wreaking havoc on the weather here on St. Thomas.  This time, it isn't even a tropical depression yet, tho it is forecast to strengthen soon.  It's been windy & gusty and very rainy - over 8 inches with more predicted.

And when you get weather like this on what is basically a mountain top, things get messy:  trees blow down, you get mud slides & rock slides, water rushes across the roads, and even more potholes appear in those roads.  So, while we're used to school being cancelled for snow or ice, here they have cancelled school for ... rain.  Of course, it makes sense considering the conditions of the roads, but it sure sounds funny!

The balcony where Bob sat so dryly while it rained on Sunday has been quite the opposite during these storms.  With that wind coming from the south, I keep having to shut the doors when the squalls move through.  When it's not raining, we definitely have plenty of fresh air in the house!

Since my main view of the world is through those doors (What can I say? We should be getting me a car soon and I won't be quite so housebound), here are contrasting pictures off that balcony:



A typical summer afternoon



Today

And, no, I didn't do anything to the color.  The normally bright blue water is decidedly green today.

I feel sorry for those people who are here on vacation, because the forecast doesn't look much different until Saturday.  But I guess this does explain why September and October are the slowest months for the tourist industry here.  So, plan your visits accordingly!

Where we reside

Because I know it's hard to envision a different environment, I thought I'd post some pictures so you'd be able "see" where we are.  The picture I've added to the top of the blog is the view off our balcony.  Not bad, we think :) The really nice thing about this view is that you can see it from the living room, the kitchen, and the master bedroom.  To the left of the point, there is an expanse of open water, and boats of all sorts cross there going between downtown Charlotte Amalie and St. John.  Having that point across from us also means that the view is nice at night, as the lights come on.

In case you read that we live in a condo and thought "hi-rise", this is actually what our complex looks like.  The buildings are 2-stories tall, with separate condos on the lower and upper levels.  I was standing in the parking lot to take this, and the water is on the other side of the building.

You walk down several steps to a sidewalk that runs parallel to the buildings, then come to the walkway to our building:

We have one of the prettiest entries, because our upstairs neighbor/landlord grows orchids.  I never see him doing anything with them, but they are beautiful!

We are in the downstairs unit, and as you walk in you can see through the kitchen and the living room right out to the water:

Our condo has all the space we need, but little more.  Besides the kitchen and living room/dining area, we have 2 bedrooms & 2 bathrooms and a utility closet for the washer & dryer.  It's comfortably furnished, which is really nice, since there aren't very many furniture stores on the island!

Of course, our favorite part is that balcony, where Bob was busy doing some CPE this afternoon:

What you can't see is that it was pouring down rain while he was out there!

While we haven't needed to buy much for the condo, we have added some things for the kitchen. Then, this week, we added Bob's new favorite thing: the Weber Q gas grill.

It's just the perfect size!  And, needless to say, we tested it right away ;)

We've also gotten a hummingbird feeder, and the birds found it almost immediately.  Between watching the rain storms move in across the water and watching the hummingbirds fight over the feeder, we've had a pretty great Sunday!  Now it's time to get out the chicken breasts I've been marinating and get that grill going ...