About Salem

In case you didn't know, we have relocated to Salem for the period before and after Semester at Sea.  It is a little unrealistic to apply for a job in January and say "see ya in May, after our career-related cruise around the world".  So, we just decided to move all of our stuff to Luke's mom's house and call it "home" for a little while.  

I'm a sunshine girl, so Salem is a little rainy for my taste sometimes, but there are a few amazing things I've noticed so far:

1) At the Wal-Mart they have staff dedicated to wiping down the baskets as they come in so you don't have to get a rainy wet basket.  There are often umbrella baskets where you can pick up a free umbrella to use and return at another basket.  How cute!  

2)  The grass is Salem is green, and many of the trees haven't even lost their leaves.  On the days when it is sunshiney, you can pretend like it is a cool day in California wine country.

3)  Speaking of wine...Maybe you are in Salem, and you don't have a job, and you don't make any money.  You have time and no money you say??  Sounds like a good day to leave the kids with grandma and go on a Willamette Valley wine tasting tour! 

4)  Is there any place on earth with better food than Oregon?  Honestly, if you want to go around the world to try new flavors, just buy a plane ticket to Portland instead!  

5)  We live near a street called "Commercial" in Salem.  Holy Cow!  On one strip, there is:  Fred Meyer, Lifesource, Winco, Target, Costco, Wal-Mart, and Safeway.  Seriously!  When you open the weekend paper a whole tree worth of ads falls out with all of the deals for the week.  I don't know if there is anything that isn't on Commercial street.  I like that it is impossible to get lost while shopping.  

6)  On the flip side of that coin, if you drive for 15 minutes in any direction you hit green pastures, rolling hills, and farmland.  

7)  People are nice.  I think I like Salem people.  Kinda chatty the Salem people.  The clerks always small-talk and random people in town say stuff to ya.  No one seems in a real big hurry.  That could be a side-effect of the fact we no longer do stuff on "after-work" time.

8)  Even though it rains A LOT in January, there are many activities for children that are indoors.  There is a carrousel downtown, lots of indoor kiddie things at malls or kids clubs, indoor aquatic centers with heated pools, etc.