Riding the bus

Here in Bellingham, the bus system (the Whatcom Transportation Authority) is truly great. I've got a bus stop right down at the end of the driveway of the apartment complex where we live. I ride the bus to the gym every weekday morning, catching it at 7:53am for the 10-minute ride to town. Sometimes, just for fun, I'll walk down the street after the gym workout and catch the 401 to Fairhaven. Bellingham is made up of 23 different neighborhoods, which all came together from the consolidation of three different townships in 1904, joining together to become the City of Bellingham.

When we moved here more than a year ago, I had no idea of the great benefits of the city that I would learn to love: not only the bus system, but its proximity to Vancouver, B.C. (30 miles north) and Seattle, 85 miles south. On my bus ride to Fairhaven, only a 15-minute ride, I see Bellingham Bay to my right (picture taken from the bus), and condos and homes to my left as we travel down to Fairhaven. My three most favorite destinations are the Village Bookstore, my massage therapist's office, and Boulevard Park, which is a wonderful walk along Bellingham Bay.

 The main thing is that my husband and I still have two cars, because neither of us can agree on whose car will go, but we only need one. The bus allows me to ride UNLIMITED for $35 for three months of riding (as a senior). So I can choose to get onto a bus and just scan my bus pass and ride from the Canadian border about 18 miles north, to Mt. Vernon, 30 miles south. And I can ride back and forth all day long if I wanted to. Is this amazing, or what?

This picture shows the inside of one of the newer buses. A passenger has just pulled the cord to get the bus to let him off at the next stop. As you can see, the bus is used, but not heavily. This was taken at about noon on a Saturday.

And this bus (the #10) is my ride back to the bus stop at the end of my driveway. It only goes around every hour, but the other one I can ride home if I'm willing to walk a block to my apartment comes every other half hour. I find the ability to get home every half hour to be more than adequate. I'm still thinking about getting rid of one of our cars, but for now, not driving means I save gas, and wear and tear, and I get to enjoy my fellow passengers. I'm so pleased to have such a great system available to me!

"-)