Haha I was presuming that you’d be here in Blighty without thinking it through - doh!
However, on the topic of you both being in the USA. I must be cheeky and ask if it’s possible for you to get hold on any of the more hardy avocado varieties?
Where I live corresponds roughly to USDA zone 8 and I believe that the Mexican varieties , though not grown commercially due to being very thin skinned, are often grown in home gardens in the USA.
Iirc Del Rio / Pryor, Mexicola Grande, Opal / Lila, Wilma / Brazos Belle or the famous and probably most frost tolerant ‘Bacon‘ variety of avocado are all said to be good down to USDA zone 8.
The only varieties available in the uk are the West Indian and Guatemalan commercial varieties. Though these are often, as it happens, imported into the UK from Africa or the Middle East.
I’m on the lookout for someone who could hopefully post me a few seeds of the Bacon variety, or similar Mexican cultivars, if I stump up the postage.
To stick with the topic I must ask if I’m barking up the right tree here?