Smart Trip Celebration

About 3 weeks ago Sabrina and I received a letter in the mail informing us that we are 2 of 387 Smart Trip members to log over 200 smart trips and are invited to a small celebration and speech by the mayor. For reference, there are over 4,000 participants in the program so we aren't doing too shabby. For the uninformed, the Smart Trips program encourages people to eliminate automobile trips by using the friendlier alternatives of walking, biking, and taking the bus. We log our trips into a calendar on their web site and are eligible for prizes and other giveaways on a monthly basis, however we've yet to win just yet. There was a decent turn out, maybe 100 of the 387 members showed up, and to my surprise it was a pretty general crowd, a good sampling of Bellingham, in fact I spotted no dirty hippies at all. This offered further evidence to my hunch that the environmentally conscious crowd is not made up of a motley crew of granola eating, dirty, body odor factories, its just a bunch of people who care, and would like to see a real change away from the automobile orgy that is American life.

After the speech we were all given 15 dollars in gift certificates to spend at the farmers market (which was where the speech was held). I personally thought it was an awesome gift, so Sabrina and I bought food, drinks, and some other odds and ends. After we finished at the farmers market we walked across the street to Boundary Bay, a local brewery/restaurant where I enjoyed a brew and Sabrina had an appetizer. All in all, it was a nice way to spend Saturday morning and also celebrate my b-day.

	Top right: A sea of white shirt wearing smart-trippers. Top left: The normal bike racks were packed, so anything became fair game for locking. Hell yeah! Right: Yours truly enjoying a birthday blonde.