I love the Opals too and heartily recommend them. A bit sweeter and different flesh than the Cosmic Crisp or the Honey Crisp but a lovely yellow apple with flavor.
But yeah, I live in Washington State, we grow them here! Actually, a lot of apples are grown in other parts of the world now, that's why we can have the variety we have year round now. So yeah... I live in Washington State and I'm cheap, that's the real thing. I just can't buy a $2.99+/pound apple that's probably 10-12 oz. I did try that first Cosmic Crisp at $3.49/pound I think it was and it was almost a $3.00 apple.
When my farmer's market is operational, I do buy local and seasonal, I still try to do so at the supermarket. But most of my produce I get is salad mix at Costco and the bulk of my fresh produce comes from my local bargain level market and are mostly considered "seconds". Not all the apples are the same size or maybe the right size but wrong shape or there may be a leaf mark or other blemish. Nutritionally, no difference. Price wise? Usually more like $1.99 or less than 2.99 per pound or more.