I mentioned recently that I'll be spending more time downtown lately. That's because the ex-husband has finally moved from Indiana to the Houston area. So twice a week, I take the boys to see their dad. We often meet downtown because it's a good half-way point between my place and his, and there are lots of things for little boys to do downtown with their daddy, like Hermann Park (great park, by the way), or the Children's Museum.
Rather than drive all the way downtown (half an hour), turn around and come home, and a few hours later make the same trip all over again to pick the boys up, I generally try to save myself half the driving by finding myself something to do downtown while the boys visit with their dad. Sometimes I run a few errands, sometimes I go for a run, sometimes I find a good place to sit and crochet.
Despite my attempts to conserve gas, I still drove four hundred and ten miles last week. Assuming an average speed of forty miles an hour (a generous estimate, I think), that would equate to over ten hours of driving. Ten hours! A full day's work! (Well, not for a mom. :p ) That's a lot of driving for someone who doesn't work outside the home!
I drove to church and back three times, to the grocery store twice, to visit with friends once, and to take the boys to their dad twice. I could cut out the driving to the grocery store by combining those trips with others; and I suppose visiting with friends isn't a necessity. But those were the shortest trips. If I cut those out, I'm still left with a lot of driving.
As I've mentioned before, when I lived in Bloomington, Indiana, everything I needed to do was within two miles of my home. Church, grocery stores, library, bank, you name it; everything was within two miles. All of this driving in Texas seems kind of insane to me. But it seems to be the norm. Oh, and it seems that most people drive gas-guzzling SUVs or pickup trucks. I don't get it!
Are you wondering what the point of this post is? There isn't one. I'm just complaining. But to end this post on a more positive note: I am thankful that my trusty old Nissan (14 years old, 130k miles, still going strong) gets well over thirty miles to the gallon. And ultimately, I am very thankful that I have a comfortable home to stay in free of charge, even if it is rather inconveniently located. Thanks again, Mom and Dad. :)
If you were closer to town center you probably wouldn't be complaining lol...and actually where the Hembds lived I found that out of the way...and not what I would say as the norm for what I was used to (center of Santa Fe). And then I lived in Harris for 8 months and oh boy. That was a major change! The nearest town only had a small postoffice, a hairdresser, a clinic, and a small grocery store which was way to expensive...so to get to a REAL town you had to drive an hour and a half and that is not straight roads...up and down, windy (if that is how you spell it!?)...ach well...I guess I was complaining then too. :( But then we forget we have a car to drive in, a house over our heads etc.!
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