Category Archives: seattle

30 Minute Load Zone

Posted on December 12, 2007 by Anne | Leave a comment

We parked in the load zone at preschool the other day and our four year old was very concerned we’d been there for longer than 30 minutes. He really didn’t want to get a ticket.

– Anne

November Stats

Posted on December 1, 2007 by Anne | 4 comments

I’m into stats. So I thought I’d do a wrap up of our family transportation stats for the month of November:

Total Number of Car Trips – 5

Number of Miles Driven – 25.5

Number of car-free days – 25

Longest car-free streak for November – 12 days

Family Record (set in September) – 22 days

Number of trips to the gas station – 0

Rainy Days in Seattle (According to the National Weather Service) – 25

Longest Ride with kids – Riding to the Pike Place Market and back the day after Thanksgiving – 12.8 miles

Most memorable ride – To the Arboretum via the center for Urban Horticulture with the kids. Good times. Lots of bird nests spotted.

Ride with the worst weather – Picking up the 4 year old at preschool in a torrential downpour. I couldn’t wait out the rain in my warm, dry house; it was time to get him so I had to go.

Last gas purchase – 8/31/2007

– Anne

4 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, extravehicular activities, seattle, weather

Tagged , , alternative transportation, bikes, seattle, stats

Fun with Metro

Posted on November 29, 2007 by Tim King | 2 comments

photo by VEO: http://www.flickr.com/photos/veo/205556435/

I have this love-hate relationship with the bus. I love the idea of mass transit but hate Metro‘s implementation. I get impatient with all the stops. Why can’t we make people walk just a little farther, cut out half the stops and and speed the whole route up? Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, extravehicular activities, mass transit, seattle

Tagged , bikes, bus, mass transit, metro, seattle, xtracycle

Birthday Dinner and a Movie

Posted on November 24, 2007 by Anne | 3 comments

Today was my 29th (wink wink) birthday. I had a great day. Our babysitter was out of town so we rolled with it as parents often do – dinner and a movie with the kids. I’m not big on fancy, in fact I’m a pretty cheap date, so it was perfectly fine with me. We rode to Dick’s for some nutritious burgers and shakes before the movie. Parked the bikes right up front and ate our grub like the rest of them – in our ~~cars~~bikes. After our nutritious meal, we were on to the movie theatre for an early showing of Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. Good flick for kids and adults – Natalie Portman is so cute and the movie was about a magical toystore, how could you not like it. After the movie, we went outside and bundled up for the ride home. Lots of amused looks from the folks waiting in line to pay for parking – ha.

Good times.

– Anne

3 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, dates, extravehicular activities, kids, seattle

Tagged bikes, burger joints, datenight, seattle, xtracycle

Buy Nothing Day Ride today – meet at Pike Place Market Pig at Noon.

Posted on November 23, 2007 by Anne | 3 comments

It’s a beautiful fall day in Seattle. The perfect opportunity to ride off all that Thanksgiving eatin’. We’ll be there with the whole family – Grab your lunch, your bike, and meet us as we join the shopping hordes and NOT shop.

-Anne and Tim

3 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, consumerism, Human Powered Politics, kids, seattle, weather, xtracycle

Tagged , bikes, Black Friday, Buy Nothing Day, buynothingday, pike place market, rides, seattle, xtracycle

The Year of Living Car-lessly

Posted on November 15, 2007 by Anne | 1 comment

I discovered Alan Durning’s series last year. It was my inspiration for trying to be less car dependent. When I first started reading it, I told myself, ” I could never do that.” (Insert all excuses here). But I was truly inspired. If their family of five can live without a car, I can certainly live with driving less.

We started small – eliminating un-necessary trips here and there, declaring carfree days once or twice a week, doing all errands on one day to eliminate daily short trips etc.

Then we got the Xtracycles. What a truly revolutionary invention. They have changed everything for us. All kid-and-stuff-hauling related excuses evaporated when they were up and running. Now – we barely drive. Maybe once every 2 weeks. Probably less. We’re hooked – wouldn’t go back. It’s so easy and fun.

Give Alan Durning’s series a read when you have a chance.

– Anne

1 Comment

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, extravehicular activities, kids, longbikes, neighborhoods, seattle, sustainability, traffic

Tagged alternative transportation, bikes, carless living, walking

Family cycling

Posted on November 11, 2007 by Anne | 4 comments

Bike Portland ponders family cycling – is it the next big thing? Way to go, Marion, looks like fun.

Maybe in Portland, but Seattle has a long way to go. I’ve never seen that many bikes at either of my kids’ schools. Our schools are at the top of a hill – so that’s probably why ; – )

– Anne

4 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, kids, longbikes, School, seattle, xtracycle

Tagged bikes, kids, neighborhoods, portland, School, seattle, traffic

Kids and walkable entertainment

Posted on November 9, 2007 by Anne | Leave a comment

This post has nothing to do with bikes. It does, however, have something to do with carfree days which was the original purpose of this blog.

When a preschooler isn’t in school, you have to find something to do to avoid hearing “I’m bored” all day long. This isn’t hard – we have a lot of fun stuff to do in our neighborhood. Neither Tim nor I are big fans of playgrounds (shhh – don’t tell our children) So, we try to find other, non-playgroundish things to do. Looking for insects, digging in the dirt, playing in the creek near our house, picking up leaves – all highly entertaining. And when you have a four year old boy, seeking out big construction equipment is a must.

My son and I enjoyed a carfree day watching a crew prepare to lift a house in our neighborhood. It was a beautiful day so I enjoyed it as well! We have to return to the site today to watch the actual lifting….ah the things we do for our children.

– Anne

Buy Nothing Day

Posted on November 7, 2007 by Anne | 3 comments

For the past few years, Tim and I have silently observed Buy Nothing Day. I was very excited to read of an event (via Bike Hugger) encouraging active participation. Aarons Bicycle Repair, Seattle’s leading Xtracycle dealer, is leading a HOT STUFF Cargo Bike Ride to remind us all to get out of stores and onto our bikes.

I know we won’t be seeing Tim’s shopaholic sister there, but how about you? Does your city have an event? Tell us about it!

– Anne

3 Comments

Posted in alternative transportation, bikes, consumerism, extravehicular activities, Human Powered Politics, longbikes, seattle, shopping, shops, xtracycle

Tagged bikes, Black Friday, Buy Nothing Day, seattle, shopping, Thanksgiving, xtracycle

Xtracycle Date Night #8

Posted on November 4, 2007 by Tim K | 1 comment

It was a lovely Friday night for some Xtracycle errands followed by drinks and dinner at Flowers on the Ave. The combination of my captive subject, our bikelights, and the camera’s second-curtain flash settings were hard to resist.