A summer of exploration

LP and I are very happy with the location of our new house. We have been able to enjoy a number of activities around the city without relying on our car.

Foremost is our proximity to the school grounds. LP often took the girls to play in the park during the summer. She met a few other mothers and some of Julie's future classmates. Julie starts preschool in a week and we're planning on sending both girls to the school for its Chinese program. They'll have a short walk and will be able to enjoy hot lunches at home.

The first activity to which we enjoyed walking was swimming. The local pool offers an hour of free swimming each week to community league members. We're close enough that even Shannon could walk there before she turned two. LP has also walked to the local grocery store with the girls when she just needd a few items.

LP used her bike and trailer to take the girls to the library and new splash park a number of times this summer. After taking a route across the Whitemud and 170 St which wasn't very friendly for family cycling, we were able to plot a much quieter route on Google Maps. She can now get to the splash park in under 20 minutes along bike paths and residential streets.

We also travelled to three big events this summer by bike. In July, I pulled the girls in the trailer downtown to watch the Capital Ex parade. It's about 9 km to downtown along the river valley trails. LP pulled the girls home in an hour since I had to be at work. In August, we biked to Heritage Days at Hawrelak Park. Three weeks later, we again biked to Old Strathcona and the Fringe Festival. The kids' section of the festival seemed to get off to a slow start on its last day but the commute was enjoyable and the girls both napped for 40 minutes during the ride home. I guess my riding style just isn't exciting enough.

Thinking about thinking

Here's my attempt to try and start writing again. Now that I've completed my Masters of GIS, I've had to do much, much, much less writing. Issues of urban mobility are still on my mind and I'm planning on sharing some of my experiences. I now live in a more walkable neighbourhood and I'm enjoying not needing the car to do everything. I hope to post about the enjoyable walks I've had taking the kids to the pool and getting groceries. My wife's been pulling the bike trailer to libraries and splash parks all summer. We also opted to take the bikes for our family trips to Heritage Days and the Fringe Festival. I hope I'll also have a post or two about a new LRT line which is supposed to pass close to my home. It's still a long way away but I'm looking forward to it.

Plus, I'll soon have some stories about suffering at the back of the pack in cyclocross races.