ZipCar

With the car gone to Oregon, and bike commuting not always practical, I joined ZipCar. I figured there would be occasions when I need to go further than my legs are willing to pedal, or carry more than will fit in the Burley. Today was one of those days. We completed our first ZipCar reservation. It was fabulous.

I have to say it was a little weird just using someone's car without ever speaking to them. I reserved a car about half a mile from home, which meant a 15 minute hike from the house. We loaded up the car seats in the little red wagon, donned our rain gear (with garbage bag 'raincoat' for the car seats), and hiked on over. The kids were troopers. Once at the car I installed the car seats, installed the kids, stowed the wagon in the trunk and we were off. We went to church, we went to lunch, we did the weekly grocery shopping, brought it home and then drove the car back to its parking space. Loaded the car seats back into the wagon and trooped on home in a rainstorm. Along the way we stopped to float leaf boats down a rushing river of water running along the curb, stomped our way through a couple of good sized puddles, and generally enjoyed the foul weather. Nothing like youngsters to help you see the joy in any situation. Once home, after sliding out of our wet clothes, we capped our outing with hot chocolate & marshmallows and another screening of Polar Express. 'Tis the season!

I have to say renting a car by the hour, for just the few hours you need it, and not having to worry about gas, tolls, etc. is fabulous. They make it really easy too - get to it, unlock it, get in, and go! Way to go. Thank you ZipCar!