Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Going car-free: day 1 & 2

I saw an old friend recently who asked me to start posting here again so I am going to give it a try! I am actually on an exciting journey right now and maybe it will be enjoyable for readers (if there are any left, ha!) to follow along.

I am on Day Two of a self-imposed car-free month (well, except for work on Saturdays. That trip by public transit would be a nightmare to say the least). I'm going to try doing all the things we normally do without driving, and if it goes well, I'm going to sell the car. Even with doing some sort of car share like zipcar every Saturday for work, I'd still be paying just a fraction of what I'm paying now for the car payment, gas, insurance, upkeep, etc.

 It's going great so far! Yesterday we biked to the chiropractor, then to the playground, then home again. Henry rode his bike while I pulled Jude and Felix in the trailer. I have to admit that I was shocked and embarrassed when I realized how very close in proximity these places are to each other as well as our home. The gorgeous weather helped, but the trip was a breeze! Last night I rode the cargo bike around our neighborhood for a while to practice. The way the bike moves and steers is different from a regular bike and I want to be very secure with it before I ride the boys around in it.

Today I decided to try out the bus. Turns out the bus line that picks up and drops off practically across the street from our house goes straight downtown. So we took it almost to the end of the line and got off at the inner harbor, and of course they enjoyed looking at everything along the way. I was excited to see that this bus line drops off right outside both our church and the central library! We could also bike to church but I tend to feel lazy on Sunday mornings so it's nice to know the bus is an option for sloth or bad weather.

Anyway, back to today. Typically I have a detailed plan for our outings but this time I just said "we're taking the bus downtown" so that we could have an adventure, and so we did! We started walking and came across the most creative, aesthetically pleasing "playground" I've ever seen! The boys had a blast and I wished I had my knitting, I was actually sitting and relaxing for a few minutes. Well until they began intentionally colliding with each other on the slide and all got hurt. As I am known to say, with three boys, every activity that starts as anything, ends as wrestling.

Then we decided we were all hungry so we went for a special lunch out at potbelly's. Afterwards we went to see the dolphins at the aquarium (where we have a membership) and sat down just as the presentation was starting, perfect timing. Felix had a meltdown as we were leaving but he did that the last time we went there too, so it wasn't transportation-related. He was just tired and didn't want to leave. I managed to get him to ride piggyback the 2 blocks to the bus stop, and we got there with 10 minutes to spare. The bus ride home was enjoyable too and Felix slept on my chest which I loved. When we got off the bus, there was a chorus of "that was so much fun! Can we take the bus downtown again, Mommy?" They talked about the trip and how much fun they had off and on for the rest of the day.

Checking out the ads on the bus.
When they got a little restless I pulled out the pipe cleaners and we made letters and flowers.
We made it!
A wonderful discovery: an artfully designed play area.







Jellyfish right next to the ducks in the harbor!
Hanging out waiting for the bus.
A sweet treat on the way home.

It is interesting to reflect on how I felt differently today vs. when I drive downtown. I felt so much more relaxed without the stress of negotiating traffic, construction, and parking. I was able to actually enjoy the trip and talk with the boys about our surroundings intend of the usual "no, I can't look at that interesting thing you're asking about, I'm driving." I also appreciated being on the bus with people from all walks of life. I felt more a part of the community than when we go straight from our car to our destination.

I think I'm ready to take the boys in the cargo bike so I'm going to give it a try in our neighborhood tomorrow. If I chicken out there's always the bike trailer :)





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