Bus/Bike vs. Car for $$$

[KnottedYet]

When I leave in the morning I travel toward the bus stop on a street with a view of the snowy Olympic mountains in one direction and a veiw of the not-quite-so-snowy Cascade mountains in the other.

My time at the bus stop is spent basking in the early morning sunlight.

Once we're on the road, the bus gets several amazing views of Mt. Rainier, rising impossibly high above the foothills. Eventually we swoop down in toward Seattle, and I can see the skyscrapers and the Space Needle off in the distance.

The bus goes on the I-5 bridge over Lake Union, and I can watch boat traffic as we fly overhead. Usually there are a few rowers and crew teams out, a kayak or two, maybe a sailboat. Today there was a seaplane taking off.

From the I-5 bridge we can see at least 3 other bridges. Two of them are draw-bridges with castle-like towers.

When we cross the water and reach Seattle "proper" I can look to the west over the south of Lake Union and the Space Needle, or to the east down nifty little residential streets that I just ache to explore by bike.

We do some tunnel stuff, then emerge into downtown Seattle, where all the east-west streets end in Elliott Bay. I can see the ocean! Cruise ships, ferries, white caps, cargo ships, tugs and barges, glinting sunlight on flat water. My heart just soars.

The bus's first stop is at the jail. These skunky dudes have some of the most expensive views in Washington. Does having a window on the Puget Sound, or Mt. Rainier, or the Cascades, or Seattle make you rehab better? Or does the beauty fall on deaf ears (as it were)?

We cruise on up Seattle's "First Hill," aka "Pill Hill" where there are many hospitals, clinics, cancer research groups, etc. One of my favorite stops has a great view of the salt water, and as we pull away we pass a house that was probably grand and stately 100 years ago, but is kinda run down now. The property it is on is undoubtedly worth MUCH more than the building. I almost wonder why the owners haven't sold yet. There is a handpainted sign in the bedraggled front yard, advertising parking for $10 a day "ring door bell." Their front yard is always full of cars. Do they make enough off parking to offset the millions they could make by selling the place?

The bus winds around First Hill, past some lovely old Victorians and ornate brick apartment buildings and modern concrete apartment buildings. I get off near one of the major hospitals, and walk a few blocks to work. Every morning is a dance around collapsed street people, locked up bikes, intent medical interns, lackadaisical lower eschelon medical staff, gay couples out walking their dogs, and everywhere always bikes bikes and more bikes to admire.

I stay on the south side of the street to avoid the Rite Aid pharmacy. In the morning the corner it sits on is well populated by patrons of the methadone clinic a block away. Only once have I seen it clear; there were three police cars at the bank next door and the Rite Aid corner was miraculously empty. All the methadone patrons had adjourned to the block down from my clinic. This morning there were a couple fights going on at the Rite Aid, and one man was so out of it he was trying to cross the street against the light as the folks not engaged in the fights shouted and screamed at him to "get back". Impending disaster while surrounded by medical professionals.

The last block or two to work are blessedly quiet and zen-like with the smell of jasmine and huge old trees, bamboo rustling in the breeze, and amazingly enough the sound of birds. How odd for the center of a big city!

Not too bad for a daily commute.