Tag Archives: Christmas Tree

Tree Hauling, Year Nine!

Posted on December 16, 2015 by Anne & Tim | 2 comments

You might be (editor: probably are) bored of tree-hauling posts by now, but I’m not. And since this is our NINTH-annual-Christmas-tree-by-bike post, and I already have kids in middle and high-schools, you’ll have to suffer through another sentimental one. The kids are growing up so fast <sniff> and our time with them is almost done. They’re already talking about their future holiday traditions, the ones they’ll start when they have their own (more stylish than our) homes and families. But for now, they’re still stuck with what passes for tradition around here.

Little boy in 2008; Much bigger boy in 2015

See that cute, little, three-year-old, riding on the back of Tim’s Xtracycle Mad-Max style? He’s now twelve! And almost taller than me! AND this year, he hauled the tree home on my Xtracycle! (I hope my overuse of exclamation points has properly conveyed my enthusiastic mirth.)

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Posted in alternative transportation, Bicycle Christmas, BIG Loads, bikes, extravehicular activities, family cycling, kids, xtracycle

Tagged 2015, carfreedays, christmas, Christmas Tree, Christmas Tree by bike, holiday tree, Holiday Tree Haulin, Year 9

Eighth-Annual Xtracycle Tree Haulin! (plus retrospective)

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Anne | 4 comments

This is our obligatory eighth-annual Christmas tree by bike post. Tree-hauling is old hat by now, but I thought I’d post some photos of this year’s adventure anyway. You might remember that last year our daughter hauled the tree. When we discussed who would pedal the tree home this year, I realized I’d never done it. How did I pass on all of those tree-hauling opportunities over the years? Naturally I volunteered for the task.

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Posted in alternative transportation, Bicycle Christmas, BIG Loads, bikes, family cycling, xtracycle

Tagged alternative transportation, Bicycle Christmas, Christmas Tree, Christmas Tree by bike, holiday tree, tree haulin, tree-by-bike, xtracycle, Xtracycle tree haulin, year 8

Tree Hauling, Year 7: Kids Hauling Trees

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Anne & Tim | 7 comments

Happy Holidays! It’s time for our seventh-annual Christmas-tree hauling post. You’re probably bored of our tree-hauling exploits at this point. But it’s a tradition so we’re sharing anyway!

Last year our friend, Charlotte, suggested that the kids need to start hauling the tree. And since our daughter now fits Anne’s bikes, Tim floated the idea by her a couple of weeks ago. As a new 13 year old, she’s lukewarm about even riding bikes, let alone hauling trees on bikes in public, where, you know, like, her friends and, like, the whole world might see her!

So we weren’t surprised then with her less-than-enthusiastic response.

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7 Comments

Posted in BIG Loads, bikes, family cycling

Tagged 2013, Bicycle Christmas, carfreedays, Christmas Tree, seattle, Year 7

2012 Xtracycle Tree Haulin (6th Annual)

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Anne | 6 comments

8250654778_e4348a9090 Year Six is D O N E.

We all pedaled up to our local tree lot the other evening, chose a 8′ Noble fir and headed home. Simple, straightforward and almost no drama. Continue reading →

6 Comments

Posted in bikes, extravehicular activities, family cycling, longbikes, xtracycle

Tagged 2012, Bicycle Christmas, christmas, Christmas Tree, December, tree, tree hauling, xtracycle

Tree Haulin, Year SIX

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Anne | 3 comments

We’re gearing up for Xtracycle Tree Hauling, year six! We plan to get our tree in the next couple of days and promise to post photos of year six later in the week. Not as cute as when the kids were little and riding on the Snapdeck, but still fun nonetheless.

For now, check out years 2007 – 2011. How the kids have grown! More blog posts and photos of all tree hauling adventures here and here

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3 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, BIG Loads, bikes, longbikes, xtracycle

Tagged 2012, Bicycle Christmas, Christmas Tree, tree, tree haulin, xtracycle

Fifth-Annual Xtracycle Tree Haulin

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Anne | 8 comments

Tree Haulin Track Stand

Thought we’d post some photos of our 2011 Xtracycle Tree Haulin event. We won’t bore you with another retrospective of all of our tree-haulin adventures, you can read the one we wrote last year if you’re interested. Continue reading →

8 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, BIG Loads, bikes, extravehicular activities, family cycling, xtracycle

Tagged 2011, Christmas Tree, garden gnome, happy holidays, Holiday, holiday tree, Holiday Tree Haulin, tree lot, xtracycle

Fourth-Annual Xtracycle Tree Haulin (plus retrospective)

Posted on December 13, 2010 by Anne | 24 comments

We used to make a huge production out of the annual-tree claiming event. We’d load up the VW camper, grab a $5 (bargain!) Forest Service tree-cutting permit, drive up toward the snow for a while, and tromp around in the (snowy, wet, muddy,etc) woods, until we found a tree we could all agree on. Of course, said tree was always double the size we needed (they look smaller in the forest), so fresh we couldn’t bear to take it down until Valentine’s day, and that five-dollar permit usually involved an oil change, a swap to the snow tires, and at least a tank of gas. So really, $5 plus another eighty or so & change.

Bargain?

So when we seriously started doing the long-bike thing, we thought we’d give our auto-induced tree haulin’ a break for a year so we could support our local, neighborhood tree lot and find out if was really possible to haul (it seems so obvious now) our family tree via bike. I mean, it’s just a year, right? Then we’ll go back to fun way up in the snow.

Except, all of sudden it’s our fourth, haul-by-bike Christmas. It turns out we didn’t miss the old that much at all. In fact, we’d argue the new way is much, much better. Here’s why: Continue reading →

24 Comments

Posted in bikes

Tagged "orange helmet", 2010, Bicycle Christmas, Christmas Tree, tree haulin, tree-by-bike, wet, xtracycle, Xtracycle tree haulin

Third-Annual Xtracycle Tree Haulin’ Adventure

Posted on December 9, 2009 by Tim K | 5 comments

When the already short Seattle days end at 4:18 pm (the earliest of the year!), the window for an after-school tree-gathering-family-bike adventure is small.

We tried to grab the kids right after school, bundle them up in extra (or is it Xtra) layers and hustle our way over to the local summer berry stand/temporary pumpkin patch/Christmas tree oasis while the feeble sun still shone.

Though we did our best to make our selection in the waning light and hightail it home before everyone turned into a Popsicle, it wasn’t meant to be. Not to point fingers, but damn, those kids are picky. I think we liked it better when they didn’t get to vote. Instead, we shivered up a storm while we picked up, fondled, and rated what seemed like every Noble Fir on the block. I finally stepped in with fatherly veto power to break a three-way tie (no surprise to anyone who knows me: The winner was $11 cheaper) and get us on our way with a minimum of bloodshed.

Then it was on the bike for a should-be-quick trip home in the dark. And Did I mention it was cold?

Hell yes. We even resorted to ducking into a Starbucks for cocoa and cider so the kids’ little piggies could thaw out before the final leg home.

Said Fir now sits in a bucket, hydrating in preparation for its month on stage in the lights. And me? I’m already over the voting scandal and looking forward to the fourth anniversary adventure.

More photos here

-Tim

5 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, BIG Loads, bikes, kids, shopping, xtracycle

Tagged christmas, Christmas Tree, kids, local, xtracycle

Second Annual Xtracycle Tree Haulin’

Posted on December 15, 2008 by Anne | 15 comments

We pedaled up to the local tree lot over the weekend and picked up our Christmas tree. Although the novelty of hauling a large tree by bike has faded a bit, it was still pretty satisfying to pull up to the tree lot on our bikes, park right in front, choose our 6′ Noble fir, strap it to Tim’s bike with very little effort, and pedal home. No drama, no fuss, no big deal. Continue reading →

15 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, BIG Loads, bigger than here, bikes, kids, seattle, streetsblog, sustainability, xtracycle

Tagged 2008, christmas, Christmas Tree, local, seattle, streetsblog

Tree Haulin’

Posted on December 17, 2007 by Tim King | 4 comments

You’ve probably seen about a zillion Christmas-Trees-on-Xtracycle photos already this year. I mean, everybody is doin’ it.

Said photos are usually cute and harmless and kind of fun to look at. For our sake, let’s hope that’s true because the CarFreeDay team is making it a zillion and two right here. Continue reading →