4.11.2009

All Aboard…

So the Phoenix area is way behind when it comes to mass transit, but finally they are trying to catch up. After a few years of construction a light rail metro train started running at the first of the year. Since today was going to be cool and rainy we decided it was the perfect day to take the kiddos and ride the rails.

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So we got up this morning and headed to the closest light rail station, which is still about 25 miles from our house, and jumped on the train without any idea where we would be going. Well we did have an idea considering we were on a train with a schedule.

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But anywho….off we went. The kids thought it was fun to move from seat to seat and especially enjoyed moving around while the train was moving. Me? I found a seat and stayed there.

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I gave Ham my camera to keep him happy and entertained for part of the ride and got some awesome pictures. A lot of shots of his shoes and his pants with a few random shots of the train thrown in.

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We finally decided we were hungry and decided to get off the train and head back downtown to find a place to grab some lunch.

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We only had about a 10 minute wait until a train came headed back in the other direction.

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We got off the train at the Chase Field stop and decided to have lunch at Friday’s Front Row Grill. It would be an awesome place to watch a game, but since we were about 4 hours early and didn’t have tickets we just settled for lunch.

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They seated us in a private dining area, which was really nice so I didn’t have to worry about the kids being to loud. Of course, the were perfectly behaved today.

While we were enjoying lunch we were able to watch a little batting practice.

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I would have loved for the light rail to have been available all those years ago when I worked in Phoenix. It was so convenient. Big Daddy used it a few days ago when he went and watched the Diamondbacks season opener. There are so many neat museums in Phoenix that I never think about taking my kids to because driving downtown is such a pain. Maybe now that will change…or not. Because seriously, there are still 5 of them!

3 comments:

  1. Light rail is awesome! We selected the location to build our home, in part, for light rail access. At the time our family couldn't believe we didn't pick a 'fancier' place to live but now that transportation has become a nightmare our amazing access to rail, freeway and public trails is a huge plus. Ah the benefits of having been a City Planner and knowing what the future would hold for a given area even if it didn't look amazing at the time we built. We couldn't afford to build in this area now- now that it's obviously a great place to live.

    Glad you all enjoyed the train. We have a new high-speed commuter rail that's just a mile from our house. We haven't tried it out yet but want to take the kids for a ride.

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  2. What a great way to spend an afternoong, or morning, or whatever. I love it. I wish we had something like that here. We do have the bus system, but it's kind of scary.

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  3. How fun. We've ridden the one in UT several times, but haven't tried the one here yet.

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