Yesterday, I had a nice little adventure. Not a big deal type adventure, I was just going to the bank and decided to do so first thing in the morning.
I got myself bundled for the weather, walked the boys to school, and proceeded to walk to Maynard Rd and catch the Maynard Loop bus. I’m not as familiar with this particular bus route since I have only ridden it once and it has more buses than the North/South route.
I stood at the bus stop and waited, not really sure when the bus would get there but sure that it would be relatively soon since they run on an every half hour schedule in the morning. It showed up almost exactly half an hour after I started waiting. Clearly I had just missed the earlier bus. Oh well, I’m not on any real schedule. Really the only thing I have to beat is the rain that was predicted to fall that day.
So I am riding with two other people that are heading to the mall. I’m not exactly sure of which stop I need to get off at, but I know that I don’t want to get out at the mall. I was looking for a shorter walk and I know there’s a closer stop than the mall stop. After talking to the driver, I learned that he still had to make the Crossroads loop before getting to the bus stop just on the other side of the mall. “Oh well” I thought. “This will give me a chance to see exactly where the bus goes and how I might use it to get to the Olive Garden” (my work place). What I found? That bus route is far more extensive than I thought and covers so many great areas. You can get to just about anywhere! I can get to work, I could go to the movies and shopping, I can get to the Circuit City major-going-out-of-business sale, I could go to the fabric store or the spa located on Walnut. Not too shabby for a small bus route.
After my nice little ride, the bus driver let me out closer to the bank than the bus stop allowed, since I was the only rider. Another bonus for a small town route. One thing that caught my attention during my ride was a man walking along Walnut street heading toward the Crossroads area. The same guy had passed me at the bus stop back where I boarded. I looked at my watch and noticed that he had made pretty good time. I was impressed and inspired.
After my bank dealings I headed back out. I was not particularly interested in spending much time just standing and waiting for the bus. Given that this is not the transit system that screams big city, I had no idea when I would be picked up to return home. So I looked at my watch and started walking. Not too bad, although it was kind of chilly. I had thick socks on but still could feel a little chill through my crocs and my knees were starting to ache from the weather. I made it from Walnut St to Kildaire Farm Rd, a 1.5 mile stretch, in just over 20 minutes. I felt good. I decided to reward myself with a milky way bar. After my brief shopping stint in Rite Aid, I headed back out to get home.
“Ut oh.” It started to rain. “This is not good.” I still had about a mile before I was home. My feet were cold, my knees ached and the last thing I needed was to get soaked walking in the cold icy rain. I didn’t have much choice but to trudge on and pray that heavier rain wait. As I walked, I had visions of my umbrella hanging in the small coat closet, all snug and warm.
Again, I made good time. I turned down the street and headed toward the school determining the shortest route. “What’s this? A coincidence?” I was crossing in front of the school office and heading toward me on the sidewalk was the mother of my oldest son’s best friend. She was with her young daughter. She doesn’t speak much English and tends to be shy. I don’t even know her name but have “spoken” with her numerous times, her oldest son interpreting. I gathered she was asking if I was walking home and when I nodded she offered me a ride. “Gracias” I said.
On our short trip, I learned that she was at the school because her son was in trouble, that he would be taking some kind of test at the school and she wondered if Cris would be too. “No” I told her. Then she asked me how I liked the apartment. Her family lives in the same place. “Ug, no, no bueno.” I said and she smiled knowingly although she wasn’t sure how to say it, I could tell she hated it too. I told her we are moving soon and she seemed surprised and not so surprised at the same time. She indicated they were probably moving too. When we pulled into the parking lot, she looked at a couple of maintenance guys that happened to be in the lot and we agreed that they were lacking. It was an interesting conversation, that wasn’t really a conversation since neither of us speak the other language very well. It was a mom’s conversation.
And at that, my little adventure of walking around Cary was over. I was off to enjoy my milky way bar.
