81 miles in three days

Two steps forward, one step back.

Just last week, I was crowing about how I managed not to use my car for nearly a full week. Well, this week, I managed to put 81 miles on the car in just three days. Bleah.

My cell phone died on Monday, and I had to drive all the way to Meridian to exchange it. Fortunately (I guess), I already had previous plans to attend a meeting in Meridian that day, so I was able to combine the two errands. Unfortunately (but predictably), the line at the cell-phone store was moving like molasses, so - although I'd allowed 20 minutes for that - it wasn't enough. I had to leave the line, drive across Meridian to the meeting, then return to wait in line some more. Then I had to go out of my way on the way home to pick up my daughter and her friends, whom I'd left at the mall three hours earlier. Total: More than 40 miles. (Aside to people who drive on Eagle Road every day: How can you stand it?!)

Tuesday and Wednesday, I had two short dental appointments of about 10 minutes each. In neither case - given the hourlong midday wait time between buses - did it make any sense to take the bus like I did for my cleaning last week. Tuesday night, I had a meeting and had to drive downtown. (I added a few errands en route to make the trip more worthwhile.) Wednesday morning, my daughter had an orthodontist appointment. That afternoon, she stayed after school to see her teacher and missed the bus. Then Wednesday night, she had a youth group meeting at our church in Garden City, so there was another 16-mile round trip.

Those little trips really add up, and over the course of two days, I somehow added another 40 miles. On the other hand, as of this morning, I've driven only 481 miles so far this year and my fuel tank is just now nudging the halfway mark after my last fillup (January 29). Time to climb back on the wagon - er, the bus!