Trips with a Destination
One of my favorite things to do is go on local trips with my kids where the mode of the journey is as much fun as the destination. Some of my favorites have been:
Ride bikes from Palo Alto, over the pedestrian bridge near Oregon Ave. crossing 101 (stopping to wave at the cars!), and have lunch or ice cream at the Lakeside Café at Shoreline. Once, the little legs still had lots of energy after lunch, so we kept riding to Shoreline Cinemas to see a movie.
Take Caltrain up to San Mateo, have lunch there, then visit Talbott’s Toyland and see the model train displays.
<p> Take Light Rail to San Jose to the Tech Museum of Innovation.
What cool places do you like to go to that let you avoid using the car?
We’re just trying to get to the point where the journey can be as fun as the destination. We just recently bought a seat for the back of our adult-sized bikes, and have gone a little bit on Steven’s Creek Trail to Whisman Park with our 14-month old, which is pretty good, but not as unusual as the kind of stuff you’re doing.
I guess focusing more on public transit: Trains & Trams is key to making the journey fun & far.
When we were on vacation in Switzerland, we did take some day trips from Zurich to Lucerne, and Isaac liked that okay, but a 2 hour train ride is a bit much. He loses steam after about 60 minutes, and wants to run around!