Hey everyone! I hope you're all doing well and thanks for joining me for another post. Over the past couple of weeks I've made a conscious effort to get out of my apartment in between job searching to get a change of scenery and to try and keep myself from spiraling. This week I decided to take a little trip up to Chandler, AZ to check it out and get a little change of scenery.
I left early at about 7:00 AM to try and beat the heat a little as the first thing up on the agenda was to take a walk at Veterans Oasis park. I chose this park because it was small and had a paved path. I feel better about paved paths during the summer because it's easier to see rattlesnakes that way. I know my dumb ass would miss every rattlesnake on a hiking trail and I'm just too afraid to take the risk. Anyway, I unfortunately did not beat the heat and it was already 95º F around 9:00 AM so my walk was short but it was beautiful and it was still more than I had walked outside in a while! I will share some photos from the park and share a little more about the rest of the day.
The park was really pretty with a little pond and a nice paved walking path. I made one full loop and would have loved to do a few more but it was just so hot.
After my walk I decided to go have breakfast and had a delicious vegan omelet and some coffee. It was nice and leisurely and I kind of enjoy having a meal out by myself. I enjoy the company of my friends so much but sometimes the time alone is so restorative and I really enjoyed spending the day by myself.
Chandler is like a suburban oasis in the middle of the desert. I was a really nice area and had a lot of interesting places, shopping centers and stores I hadn't seen before. I decided to stroll around a bookstore and ended up being there for almost an hour. It had been a long time since I've gone to a bookstore and it's so nice to stroll and browse and lose track of time.
There was also a Home Goods nearby (which I do have near me too) but I decided to pop in and see what was new. It was so hard to have restraint in there because their Halloween stuff was out and it was all so cute! I am proud of myself though, I didn't buy anything! 😅
I spent some time driving around the area to check it out as I have been checking out where in the Phoenix area I would live if I ended up getting a job up there. Chandler is definitely the frontrunner, although it is quite pricey to live up there.
As I was driving around I saw a Winco grocery store and decided to stop in since I heard that they have some great prices in there. I was pretty impressed as it was a huge store and the prices on a lot of the products did rival even Walmart, which typically has the lowest prices I've seen on almost every product. They had the So Delicious Coco Whip for less than $4 per container, for example, which is such a low price! They had a pretty decent selection of vegan products and I picked up a few things (such as said coco whip) since they were such great prices.
While Tucson has amazing nature and hiking, the city itself is so spread out and can take a while to get anywhere because of this. Chandler reminded me more of Long Island where I came from and was used to. While I am typically not one to spend a day strolling around stores, when it is as oppressively hot as it is here for 5-6 months out of the year, it was really nice to find something to do that allowed me to get some steps in and get out of the house. This is definitely something I'd like to do again and look forward to getting back there and checking out some more of the area.
There were some really cute animals etched into the pavement at Veterans Oasis Park and the cute little lizard was my favorite!
So that was my day in Chandler, AZ. I definitely plan to get back up there as there are more parks with paved paths I'd like to check out (maybe I'll leave by 6 next time and fill up gas before I go 😅) and maybe check out a different area within the city. Maybe I'll try to get up there again once it starts to cool down again and I'll do a little more research to see what else I can check out once I'm up there.
So that's it for now! I'll be back in a few days and I hope that you all enjoy your weekend! 💜
Wow what a lovely day! I am impressed that you did all that in the heat. Sounds like you also found some fun vegan goodies. It makes me happy when I find a good selection of vegan food in smaller towns. - Sri.
ReplyDeleteIt was so nice!! It's funny, you actually do get used to the heat after a while. It's still hot but 80° feels much cooler than it actually is when you Re used to 110° 😅 it was definitely a lovely day and Chandler is a decent sized part of the greater Phoenix area. I was surprised that Winco had a good selection of vegan products because it is more of a discount store but I definitely found well priced vegan items!
DeleteI definitely know what you mean about wanting to get out but not wanting to be outside! Home Goods is a fun store. And I also like recreational grocery shopping. And CocoWhip is delicious. I'm glad you're doing what you can to take care of yourself. I saw something recently about how August is a really bad month for job hunting, because there are the fewest openings--people are on vacations or dealing with school starting and you don't get hiring on their minds until fall is underway. In the meantime, keeping one's spirits up is really important, go good for you!
ReplyDeleteYes! I feel like I have opposite seasonal affective disorder/cabin fever. Yes, it's sunny, but the oppressive heat just makes it so much more difficult. I'm finally learning how to keep myself entertained so it's a bit better, and will be even easier once i have income coming in. This is def the worst time of year to get laid off because everyone is getting their vacation in. I'm hoping I'll have a little more luck once everyone gets back to the office! Thanks!
DeleteP.S. I am wondering if your site thinks I'm spam, too; apparently my comments are spammy? I'm still reeling from being caught in my own blog's spam filters!
ReplyDeleteNope, not at all! I have my comments set for moderation because I do tend to get spammy comments but all of your comments have come through for me to approve! No problems at all ☺️ so strange that your own blog flags you for spam!
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