Something that Chad and I have in common is we both really enjoy a good adventure or challenge.
So lately, if I mention that I have to attend a diaper-free playgroup in Huntington Beach, he’s all about planning a bike trip to meet me there afterwards. He’s met me in a variety of locations all about 20-30 miles from our home in Laguna Niguel.
Today he met me at Union Station in Los Angeles; that’s 57 miles by bike! (And many of those miles through east LA, where apparently sidewalks are never repaired and trash blows around like you’re in a trash snowglobe, a trashglobe if you will.)
I’ll post his route tomorrow.
He’s in bed sleeping soundly. ( I would be too, but awoke in a panic about half an hour ago, remembering that I needed to pick Bella and her friends up from their volunteering at Safe-Rides at the hospital at 1:30 am. The way I woke up was that I had a dream about being in the living room and my baby Christian came walking out to me crying and once he was in my arms, I had an intense need to know the time.)
My own LA adventure was tame in comparison. I took the train to LA to see art for the second time this week and then took an LA bus for the first time ever. It was remarkably easy – especially as how having a smiling baby in your front pack practically makes strangers leap up to help you.
LA public transportation hot tip: Once you’ve paid for a metrolink ticket, you can use that ticket to ride the metro and almost every public bus in the city for FREE!
From Union, I took the metro (Red line) to Wilshire/Western. When I got off there was a 720 bus (a Wilshire express) just arriving, which dropped me off not minutes later at my art destination, 6150 Wilshire. I was mostly doing this by the seat of my pants and with some friendly questions. No problems whatsoever. And I got to a part of the art town that I haven’t seen since before the baby was born nearly eight months ago.
Then I walked north on Fairfax to Beverly, because I wanted to see the show at Richard Telles gallery too – there I could have used a little more google map research, as the walk took me a better part of an hour. Once on Beverly, it appeared that buses were passing me regularly so I hopped on a 14 and the driver took me to another stop on the Red line Metro (only blip: the baby threw up on me, which is not usual for him. Touch of stomach bug? Bananas don’t agree with him? This will require more investigation… oh and second blip: I was nursing when the train pulled into Union and so I didn’t make it off the train before the doors all closed and the train went “out of service” and so I gave all the waiting passengers on the stand a show while I got rescued by the conductor. It was fun pushing the red emergency button though.)
Chad and I (and Christain by default) celebrated our day with a meal on Olvera Street, “the world’s most famous Mexican market.” Okay, so it was a bit touristy, but the tortillas were being handmade in front of our very eyes and the pork tamales were delish. I don’t know the name of the place, but it was the restaurant on the corner facing Union Station just as you’re entering Olvera Street. FYI: the “famous market” has the same knick knacks you see waiting in line to cross the border in Tijuana.
We’re all looking forward to a chill day tomorrow which will undoubtably include the new episode of Battlestar Galatica. Chad’s legs are sore from all that biking, and so are mine, from carrying 17 pounds of baby all day.
I may try to pull Chad and Christian out for a little outing to Earthroots Field School 3rd Annual Eco Festival in the afternoon.
