Not so challenging Challenge so far.....

Living and working in the East Bay make this car-free challenge pretty easy for me.  It's not just that my work is so close by, but it seems that everything that I really want/need to live are also close.  On Wednesday night I went to my usual yoga class in Berkeley, and on Thursday morning I went to see my primary care doctor, and both were a snap to get to by bike (and this is how I usually get to those places).  I decided to walk home from work yesterday (there's secure bike parking at my work), and during the walk (which I did in it's entirety for the first time, it's 5 miles, and I rarely have the time for it) I started to make a list of all that I need and have in such close proximity to where I physically live, and here it is in no particular order (oh, I use mapymyrun.com for mapping my distances):

0-1 miles:
- my primary care doctor
- my optometrist
- my favorite movie theater
- my favorite mexican restaurant
- our veterinarian
- Trader Joe's and a Safeway
- REI
- CVS, Target, and Pharmaca

...and there's more (all under 1 mile from where I live)...

- four cafes (including a Peet's)
- excellent restaurants (too many to name, including Thai, Indian, Mexican and French)
- a library and community center
- the YMCA, of which I'm a member
- the Albany waterfront and the Bay Trail
- Ashkenaz
- a bowling alley
- AC transit bus stops, the 18, 52L, and the 72's
- a BART station (actually it's 1.05 miles)

this list is getting ridiculous, I was going to do the 1-3 miles list, etc., but I'll just stop here, I think you get my point.  I love where I live..... and why do I have that second car still??

I rode the bus into work this morning (this usually takes longer than my bike ride), and will ride my bike home this evening.  The real challenge will come this weekend when I have to do grocery shopping without the car.  I realize, too, that we've been up to Tilden every weekend for the past 3 weeks, in our car, so maybe I'll try the bus and/or bike to get there this weekend.