No Such Thing as a Free Ride

When I first moved to Seattle 13 years ago, I took the bus everywhere. In fact, I didn't have a car the first four years that I lived here. This is to say that I was a huge proponent of public transportation (specifically, the bus). So earlier this year, when the local Metro had a green promotion going that offered ten free bus passes in return for a pledge to use public transportation more often, I jumped at it. In fact, I jumped at it twice, because a few months later I was offered ten more free passes in return for filling out a survey regarding my opinion about the bus (bus riding, bus routes, etc.).

Well, I am here to tell you that I am no longer the big fan that once was. It turns out I like the idea of riding the bus a lot more than I actually like riding the bus. A lot of this has to do with having children. They are not easily entertained when you miss a connection and have to wait 30 minutes outside in the cold at a bus stop with no seating. And when they're on the bus, they want to test out ALL the seats, and when the bus stops they like to lurch themselves forward with exagerrated full-body gestures (reminisant of some old SNL skits). They're also loud and they have no qualms about holding the handrails on the bus and then placing their fingers in their mouths moments later.

Take last weekend, for example. Last weekend was Thanksgiving weekend, and since we were in town with very few concrete plans, I thought it would be fun if we went downtown on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I thought if we went in the early evening we would miss most of the impassioned shoppers and parade-goers, and we'd be able to take in the tree lighting ceremony, the kids could ride the holiday carousel, we'd get a light dinner and then maybe tour the gingerbread house display at the Sheraton before heading home around 8:00. The rest of the family liked my imaginery evening and they were quick to commit. At this point I took things one step further and suggested we take the bus. "Hey, we won't have to hunt for parking," I say joyfully. So off we go at about 4:30. We miss our first bus because it actually comes to our stop three minutes early. The bus driver sees Randy flailing about as we all try to dash to our stop upon hearing the heavy bus wheels on the tarmac, but for some reason, she must have just thought he was consumed by the holiday spirit, because she just kept on going. We walk toward a more significant intersection/bus stop area, but when we get there we discover that we will still have to wait for the next bus--there are no other routes on this street. Fine. We wait, we freeze, we try to keep calm as our children start bouncing off each other in their overstuffed down coats (much like sumo wrestlers), and eventually we catch the bus. We get downtown. We quickly realize we've made a mistake, because while the tree was beautiful, the entire area is packed. We spent about ninety minutes wandering around checking the various wait times at venues and restaurants, but even the fast food hamburger joint in Pacific Place was boasting a line out and around the promonade on this evening. Eventually we abandon our efforts and catch a bus back out of town. We decide to salvage the evening with dinner in Fremont, and this was in fact a good call. We hop off in front of one of our favorite family-friendly restaurants (Norm's Eatery and Alehouse) where we have an excellent meal. We try to time it so that we leave close to when the bus schedule says the next bus will arrive at the stop just outside the restaurant, but we had another long wait. While waiting, our children started to play on a bike rack. They were laughing and having a good time, but soon enough Griffen (age 3) was in tears. He had hit his chin on the rack, but we didn't think much of it until he told us he couldn't talk. We asked him to open his mouth, and when he did, Randy and I were both horrified. His teeth were swimming in blood. It's hard to come up with an emergency plan when you don't have a car. You can't just call a cab or a friend, because in our case, you need a vehicle with two car seats designed for kids over 40 pounds. So there we sat...for what seemed like the longest eleven minutes of my life. And then there was the ride home and the bitterly cold uphill walk with two very tired (and one injured) children.

Lesson Learned
The value of having a car when you really need one: priceless.

What Goes Around, Comes Around (and Around, and Around)

Despite having the worst possible marathon date for this climate, Seattle is full of runners...casual runners, distance runners, elite runners. We can run around outside here year-round, which is great, and the hills are good for training on, but if you don't like hills there are several paths that cater to those less inclined to hit the inclines.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and make the following claim: all runners have run around Greenlake--probably many, many times. I trained for my first half marathon by circumnavigating this lake again, and again and again and now I ask myself: WHY?! Greenlake has to be one of the worst places to run. It's crowded and full of coffee-swilling, dog-walking, cell-phone toting, and stroller-pushing folks. I love this scene, but only when I'm one of those folks, not when I'm trying to improve my time, or when I'm struggling to get around without stopping. They're in my way. The outer trail is certainly reserved for the more serious folks, but still, after two times around it quickly becomes monotonous.

There are many fabulous places to run in Seattle, whether you prefer parks or urban neighborhoods or expansive views, it's easy to create a course that best suits your needs. There is a great website called runningahead.com that allows you to create courses and track your progress pretty easily.

The truth is, you can easily cover a lot of this city on foot in a relatively short amount of time. Living north of Ballard, I'm only 1.5 miles from Golden Gardens Park, 1 mile from Carkeek Park, 3.5 miles from Fremont, 4 miles from Gas Works Park, 4 miles from the Ballard Locks, etc. Why not run through the Ballard or Fremont markets early on a Sunday morning while the vendors are just setting up? Or hit Golden Gardens and Shilshole early in the morning in the summer and you're apt to hear the sea lions calling to each other. In November, the Ballard Locks and Carkeek both offer fabulous views of the salmon runs; running through Ravenna and Cowen parks in the springtime puts you under a canopy of brilliant greens, and anyone can appreciate the varied architecture and views of downtown that the "Crown of Queen Anne" loop has to offer.

I understand why people run around and around Greenlake, I really do. It's for the same reason so many eat at McDonald's: it's safe and familiar, and (unlike McDonald's) it is beautiful. But trust me on this: it can be very rewarding to break out of a rut and explore the nooks and crannies of our lovely city.