Nobody Walks In LA

One thing I love about visiting my Mom is that we can walk everywhere. We did not get in the car even one time today. We walked to coffee, then to the bus stop and took the bus about 4 blocks to the university. We didn't have to take the bus but H really wanted to go on a bus and that is a big deal for a 3 year old! Then we walked to the art exhibit, the campus book store and then back to the bus stop for another 5 minute ride before we got off and walked home. From her house we can also walk to multiple parks, the children's museum, the river, an art museum and countless shops and restaurants. This is a far cry from my everyday life.

Back home I have to get in the car to drive everywhere. Loading kids in and out of a car adds about 20 minutes to each stop. L and H must take lots of treasures with them when we leave the house. My favorite is when L takes dolls that I also then have to strap in safely. Then she will want to get into the car on H's side and he has a freak out because he doesn't want her to. Then H's strap will be too tight so I have to go back and adjust or L will have accidentally locked her seat belt and I need to fix that. Then I will realize that I forgot my phone. When we are getting out of the car it is another production. L moves slower than molasses. She sits staring of into space while H and I are waiting on the outside of the car. She slowly rises from her seat, checks out some piece of paper she has spied on the floor, looks at a bug on the window, realizes she needs to put her shoes on and then s l o w l y gets out of the car. I try to keep her focused on the task at hand which is simply getting out of the car but this one act seems to be more than she can handle. All of that doesn't even include the minimum 20 minutes it takes for us to drive anywhere and we always seem to be in a rush.

Its not that I don't try to go on walks at home either. I do try. Often we have to bring a trike or a scooter and we always bring the dog. I think last time we got about a block away before H said he needed to stop and rest. No matter how far we go I'm always carrying a child, a trike and trying to manage the dog by time we are back home. Its just not the same as here. It feels so forced at home.

Here we enjoy the journey as much as the destination. We get so much fresh air and exercise without having to ever plan it into our day. There are always people to say hello to, neighbors to stop and chat with, hills to run down and creatures to inspect. Never do any of these things seem to slow us down like transitioning to and from the car does. Maybe we allow more time to get places because we are walking and so I'm not stressed out being late. Maybe it is the incredible beauty that surrounds us out here. Maybe it is the crisp mountain air. I guess it is most likely all of those things.

Tonight, after dinner, we checked outside to see if it was snowing and it was! The kids tossed on their boots and coats faster than I thought possible and ran outside. We made snow angels on the front lawn and WALKED down to the park to see what it was like to slide down a slide with snow on it. Turns out after the first time it is really fast! I had to talk them out of bringing the sleds down seeing it was 8:30 at night.

When we return it will be hard to get back into the car every day. I will miss the regular walks with the kids where we hold hands and run down the sidewalk just for fun on our way to the day's activities. I wish it was the same at home. Oh well, at home I don't have to worry about mittens, hats and scarves I guess.

To see how walkable your neighborhood is check out this cool site. My house gets 45 out of 100. My Mom's gets an 85! www.walkscore.com