Hmmm... going to the movies with Daniel and/or the kids will be tricky. Daniel and I have a regular sitter now and we were going to try to go to the movies once in a while, and there's a free kids' movie at the local theater every week that I wanted to take the kids to. My options are: (a) skip the movies (save money and calories on popcorn), (b) bike there (too long for the kids but Daniel and I could do it if it's not after dark, when the trail is closed), (c) make an exception for movies (definitely cheating), (d) restrict ourselves to movies at the Lyric in Blacksburg (heavy on foreign/political/alternative movies -- still might be an option). This fall there's supposed to be a new big theater in Blacksburg, just a few blocks away from here -- but this was supposed to be a summer goal! And, oh, phooey, the gym's going to be a challenge, too -- it's 3 miles also. I'll have to think about this.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
And another thing
I told the kids today that it's my goal to walk or bike everywhere we go this summer. We have to drive to get to piano and church, and doctors' appointments (but the orthodontist and ophthalmologist are close enough), and the kids have a zoo camp in Roanoke for one week, but we have nothing else formal on our schedule. Anywhere we go by elective we can make in walking/biking distance -- if we go out to eat, we can pick places in town. We can walk to the library. There's a pool about a mile away we could join instead of going to the aquatic center 3 miles away (a bit long for the kids to bike, then swim, then bike, plus it's hilly all the way). We can walk to the grocery store, and that will keep us from buying anything non-essential. I don't go to work, and when I go to campus I already try to bike there. Anything I think I "need" from Target or elsewhere in Christiansburg I can get online instead or I can do without it -- or I can bike to the mall, since the Huckleberry Trail goes right there. Am I crazy to consider doing this? Anyone want to join me in the walk/bike challenge?
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4 comments:
I LOVE this idea. I have been thinking along the same lines recently. Clearly I can't walk to work - 11 miles each way. But I just watched all the seasons of Sex in The City (surprisingly good although the conservative Catholic girl in me was frequently shocked! I kept telling myself that it was "just pretend")and I was SO jealous of their ability to walk to everything they wanted - or hop in a cab when they got tired. That is what I loved about Toronto too - not keeping a car and still able to get everywhere you needed to be. Anyway - I started trying to think of things that I could walk to. But really - I just don't go anywhere within walking distance. Church - and that is about it. My plan last Wednesday was to walk to church and then to my eye doctor. Of course I then forgot to allow enough time. I have to do a test run of how long it takes me to walk to church. It is probably only 20 minutes or so - so 1/2 hour would be plenty extra. I am always disgusted with myself for not walking to the gym - only a mile away - but it is always late at night that I go and so don't want to risk it alone. I go to Target - but that is almost four miles. I go to Sarah's - but that is 17 miles. Yeah - I don't have a lot of choices to walk to... I can support you in spirit. When I move to the perfect small town - or a nice big city - I can walk everywhere too...
I think that's a brilliant idea! Maybe instead of saying that you'll only go places you can walk or bike, you could instead budget mileage on your car--figure out the mileage for your scheduled trips to church and piano, then add a bit to that amount to make your "budget." Use that budgeted amount for the times when you're invited to a birthday party last minute and need to go to Target to get a present, or for a trip to the movies every third date night. That kind of thing. Budget just enough extra miles so that it really makes you think before you decide to drive somewhere. For the gym, I'd plan on biking there, or run there and walk back. The three miles there and back can be your cardio workout (might have to do a bit more while you're there since six miles on a bike isn't a lot) and then just spend less time at the gym just doing weights and such. Oh, but you take the kids there. I forgot. Hmmmm. Is there any way you and Daniel could schedule your gym trips so one of you stays home with the kids while the other goes? With all the walking and biking you're already adding to your routine, will you NEED to go to the gym as often?
We already walk to anything within walking distance, but that's not much--library, post office (the three times a year we need to go there!) and Claire's school (for baseball and just playing on the playground). We could walk to church if we went to the church in Catonsville, but I can't stand that church so we only do it when we've put off going to church until Sunday evening. Our church doesn't do a Sunday evening Mass. The grocery store is only a mile or so away, but that's a mile along the beltway, so not exactly walkable. Illegal, I think. To take regular roads there makes it a two mile trip. Still do-able, but probably best saved for the trips where we're just getting a few things. Maybe that could be our consequence for not planning better! Usually our shopping is done at Sam's Club (same distance) so we're bringing home a car full of bulk items. We don't go out to eat or to the movies, so that's not an issue (and if we did, there are a ton of restaurants in walking distance, and a movie theater just reopened in the shopping center with the Sam's Club). Work is 12 miles, and I keep swearing I'm going to commute there by bike a day or two a week, but so far I haven't. The cold rainy weather has conspired against me up until this week, and this week I've needed to have a car while I'm AT work to get to off site meetings. I also need to figure out how to haul my stuff to work. I'll need some kind of bag on my bike to at least carry my lunch and wallet and phone. Wal Mart and Target are stops on my way home from work normally.
You can join a pool a mile away just like that? I've looked into all the pools in our area and besides the $1000 up front and $800 or so annual membership, there's a three to five year waiting list for all of them. Ugh. It's so not worth it given how infrequently we'd be able to go.
I still need to find out the details on the pool close by, but it's a tiny pool, too small for swim lessons and swim teams or lap swimming, but adequate for the kids to play. I do know they offer summer memberships, and they must have openings because every year they're advertising for people to join. There's an open house tomorrow. The other pool options are the Aquatic Center (very affordable -- for 12 months it's $200 for me, plus $85 per child or $160 for other adults, for unlimited admission, and they have a lap pool and everything, and you don't have to join for lessons and teams, or you can just get 30 adult passes for $70), Shawnee (or something like that -- five-year waiting list and expensive), or the Country Club (no waiting list, but exorbitant prices and all kinds of monthly requirements all year round). Oh, and there's the Frog Pond, which also doesn't have lap swimming, but it's big and nice, but also unfortunately full of trashy people, and no memberships, so it gets expensive.
I need the gym because on days when I bike with the kids I get no workout at all (except on some of the steeper hills on the Huckleberry trail -- that trailer gets heavy!). I walked yesterday because then I do get a real workout, but it's slow, and I can't keep the older two in sight.
Sarah, your immediate challenge is to bike to work ONE time next week, OK? Monday and Tuesday are supposed to be perfect, weather-wise.
Sorry, biking to work isn't going to happen this week. When Brian works, he doesn't get home until 8:00 and I have to be at work at 8:30. This week he's working extra days to fill in for people, so Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are out for biking, and on Tuesday I'm taking Mom and Dad to the airport before work.
I still need to get some kind of bag for my bike. And a lock. I should bring tire changing tools as well, but I figure in that case it's probably easier and faster to just call someone for a ride!
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