Welcome to the 26th consecutive mileage report. I was going to add the canoe to our modes of transportation since we have paddled 58 miles in May and June, but I figure after our BWCA trip in September we will probably want to burn our paddles. We did fashion a little trolly cart for the canoe out of a broken lawn fertilizer dispenser and we use it for the canoe launches where the portage is more than 100 feet. This launch in the picture is on the Hillsborough river at Lettuce Lake Park and its about 600 feet to the water from the parking area. Its a nice park though and is too far North for most boats so all the water traffic is canoes, kayaks and small jon boats. There is much more wildlife when there are no boats in the river.
Anyway, back to the vehicles. Its been a pretty nice spring with not too much rain, or at least it has been timed right so I risk it more to ride my bike to work. I really like the spring rides because it is not dark in the morning and the temps are ideal. Except when its 95F after work, but the pool at home provides immediate cooling relief. We've ridden the motorcycles less since our couponing is decreasing and we've been going canoeing instead.
There was no maintenance or costs required of any vehicles, just the annual motorcycle insurance payment of $1000. That might sound like a lot, but when you drive around here you'll be glad you have it. Forty percent of the drivers in Tampa have no license, or insurance, and even more are on their phones while driving. We still have plenty of gas cards from our couponing to cover fuel costs for a while more.
There is an unfortunate trend occurring upon review of the percentage we drive the car. The last two months have been the highest 55% and 63% of our transportation usage in the last seven years.
