Getting around

I believe in public transportation, but after two weekends of public transit I am not visiting list guy again without a car.

Some places (where I live now) are fine to visit without a car. Some are near impossible unless you’re on a bike tour or run across the nation campaign (where I lived then). I can get to him on the bus. And he doesn’t have a car. So we should be good?

Except. 

He rides a bike and I don’t.

And the buses near him are designed for weekday commutes and I visit on weekends.

And he’s okay not knowing who’s giving him a ride home at the end of the evening. I burst into tears when it’s late and it’s loud and I’m exhausted and I want to go home and we don’t have a plan.*

If he ends up o the wrong side of everywhere, he’s okay walking in the middle of the night for hours. I start asking how to get a cab. I hate spending money on cabs in my city. But then, I can almost always get home on transit. The rides might be long, but the stops aren’t miles away from my place and the waits aren’t going to be nearly an hour long.

I know bringing my car will bring it’s own issues of parking and navigation, but suspect it will help bridge more obstacles than it creates.

I wrote this post on my bus

The one I take pretty much every weekday

Ironic or point in case? I'm not sure which.

*Doesn’t that make you want to invite me to your next party? 

Not what I thought this post was going to be about

I'm still amazed at how much I like driving. Eight hours to visit a friend is
a) a good chance to listen to country radio
b) time to hear debates on talk radio
c) opportunity to rediscover old favorite cds
d) the perfect excuse to make a playlist of music to decide whether I like it or not
e) best spent with the windows rolled down
f) excellent alone time
g) a reason to call people in my phone's contact list who I haven't talked to in far to long
h) short enough to justify a long weekend trip
i) especially if I tell myself I can sleep in on Monday morning, since I end up not leaving until after an early dinner...

~~~

I failed the driving test 3 times. The first time I'd practiced the route with my instructor in the hour before I took the test. They changed it. Had a whole new procedure. Still not sure I'll ever pull my car off the road and then back up into my lane.

Second time it was parallel parking (there were potholes in the spot) that I thought I'd never really need to use, because I wasn't going to live in the city.

Mmmm... yeah...about that.

~~~

My first long solo car trip I stopped ever couple of hours at the beginning and every hour by the end.

Now I can start for 4 hours. Then I'm hungry.

Current favorite chains to eat at when I'm driving (and can't find a cute local spot from the interstate signs):
a) Culvers
b) Chic-fil-a
c) Olive Garden

The flowchart from last year, apparently doesn't jive with me.

~~~

My first driving experience post-getting my permit was on a stick. It was terrifying. Stalled out everywhere.

Eventually I figured it out though. It was that or only drive the minivan to school.

And now it's not fun to drive anything else.

Not sure what this means in a market where they're disappearing. Hybrid and manual don't go together as efficiently.

But that's okay. My car's only tipping 60 thou. Hope we have many more miles ahead of us.