G-Day -51

I'm thinking this will take a bit less time than I thought. If I can stretch a tank for a good 5 weeks, I think I'd be doing pretty well. IF I went absolutley nuts, I might get a bit more, but I do have to admit the following:

There's at least one or two 40-50 mile trips to D-A Scout ranch for the Cub Scout fishing derby and one or two other 20+milers for scouts.

I can try to work in summer programs into the plan. If the kids find stuff that is close to the house, that would be better, but I'd sacrifice most things for a really good summer scientist program or something like that.

Time will be an issue. I have the unbridled luxury of working from home, but swim lessons and things like that may not always be under bike friendly conditions. But I will always try to combine trips, and trips to the Farmer's Market (about 20 miles round trip) will be used as needed.

More to follow...

Hey, and here it is.

I've been flogging this address at folks who I've written to before. Several authors who's books and other work I admire, the Top Gear lads (hey, I love cars but just want to save some cash), most of my friends and the like. I've heard back from some folks, and have had one suggestion to try and start a movement. I don't know about that, but who knows, maybe I can find myself vilified on talk radio and parodied on Colbert.

G-Day -52

Just continuing to plan and see what the estimated mileage is going to be. I'm going to tune up the van this weekend (oil change/ air filter/ rotate tires), and then see what some of the base line mileages to the places I go frequently are.

Library: 1.4 miles
Nino's (Fruit market): 1 mile
Walgreen's and Coffee Hut: 0.75 mile
7-11: 0.5 mile
Kroger/Kmart: 1.1 miles
Now, most of these are easily in bike range once we get Alex on a 2 wheeler. And then the trailer can be used for just cargo. Five of the big paper bags from Nino's, seven regular grocery bags and perhaps some large boxes. And library books!

I also need to make sure I don't have to do a ton of running for the garden. We're expanding it to take over the sandbox and some of the old areas we haven't done much with lately.

Update later!

G-Day -53

I had the idea today while driving the kidlets home from the library. Why not see just how much we can do this summer on a single tank of gas. If gas hits $4/gal this summer, simply filling up the tank would eat over 2/3 of my school paycheck. And, no matter what, it seem if you have kids, they need to go places.

So, here's the ground rules:
1. No driving for the heck of it. All driving must have a purpose.
2. As much as possible, all other means of travel should be used as much as possible.
3. No sponging off her wifeness. Even if she's working from home, the rules don't change.
4. If someone offers to drive somewhere, it can be refused, save for massive loss of face.
5. Family trips for camping or whatnot have to be part of the experiment. Also, if I travel to races, there's no cheating.
6. Daily drive mileage needs to be added.
7. Any events that did NOT add mileage should at least be noted on the blog. Particularly if bikes were used.
8. If someone shows up and does something unusual, like the Top Gear guys showing up with a Smart Car or Aston Martin, well, if its mileage, at least it's not on my van!