by Elizabeth Fetkenhour

Created on: May 24, 2008   Last Updated: October 09, 2010

Rising gas prices have affected my daily life since we are currently a family of five with one spouse working full time. My full time job entails cooking, cleaning, paying bills, shopping and driving three children around town in the big gas guzzling mini van. Today the gas prices in Michigan soared over the four dollar mark and my in suburbia miles are adding up.

My daughter Lauren attends Georgetown elementary which is two miles away from our house, but since it is school of choice... I am responsible for all transportation. This small drive with all the stop signs and curves adds up over the week as I seem to be filling the van up every six days to the tune of sixty dollars. I also drive my preschooler three times per week and my son to practice. There are errands to run such as banking, dry cleaning, and grocery shopping. I used to run one errand per day, but lately I pick one day and group them all together and then calculate the shortest route when incorporating these chores. My daughter, Grace, laments from the back seat, "When are these errands going to be done?"

I respond, "The bank is next and you get a package of smarties there." It seems to consume more time but less gas when I follow this method of my running around chores. I have also started to car pool with a local neighbor, since her daughter attends Georgetown Elementary as well. I asked her to pick up the girls after school Monday and I would reciprocate and pick the girls up on Tuesday. We live about one block away so it is a great convienence to let my big van relax for a day.

As the weather is starting to warm up we are getting our bikes out of storage. My husband and I bought Giant racing bikes two years ago and they are light weight and easy to maneuver. I am not planning on biking to the bank or dry cleaners, but I will bike my daughter to school and then bike back home. After school, I bike up to meet her and then we bike home together. It is a slow bike ride and it gives us time to catch up on the day and enjoy the fresh air. In fact, my kids would prefer to bike, but it requires a little extra time and good weather. When school started in September it was nice and we used our bikes for about a month. But then came a long cold winter and it was too cold and snow covered to even consider biking an option. I did witness the hard core bikers during the winter, but I just marveled at their tenancity and attended a spin class at my work out club.

Now at the end of school, we have started

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