Dispatches from RDU

Just a note to let you know I’ll be away from my beloved Triangle for a tiny bit. I’m headed to southern Illinois to meet my baby nephew and spend some QT with my 13-year-old sister. So I’ll leave you with some scenes from Raleigh-Durham International Airport. I wanted to snap a few shots of how the Triangle is displayed to the many visitors who travel through our airport every day.

And just so you know. If you want to take a picture inside the ACC store. You have to get permission AND show the photograph to the guy behind the counter. Weird.

Keep the Triangle cool for me. I’ll be back later next week.

Running out of gas probably isn’t the best way to pinch pennies

I find myself longing for a day I once lamented. The day was March 5, 2008, when I posted a picture on my blog of the gas prices at a local gas station. I was complaining because I paid $3.25 for a gallon of gas. My how I miss those days.

Now that gas prices are right at the $4 mark, I find I never fill up my gas tank. I just pump in$12 and then make it last as long as possible. Luckily I can afford to put more in, but it’s the principle of the matter. When I bought my VW in college, it only cost $14 to fill her up. I find I drive less when I know I’m almost out of gas.

Stretching my $12 worth offuel has almost led to my car puttering out of gas a couple times already. Merging onto Raleigh’s Capital Boulevard is never fun when you think you’re about to run out of fuel.

Looks like I’m not the only one stretching my fuel as far as it will go. I found out today that the amount of North Carolina residents running out of gas on the highway soared 43 percent during the first five months of 2008 compared to the same time last year, according to a news release the Allstate Motor Club sent out today. The release goes on to say that NC residents called the motor club 179 times for fuel delivery between January and May 2008.

“We can’t directly correlate this rise in the number of people running out of gas to the rise in prices at the pump, but anecdotally we know that consumers are trying hard to stretch their dollar and sometimes that means stretching fuel into fumes,” said Allstate spokesman John Heid. “Drivers should remember running out of gas on the highway can be a lot more than an inconvenience; it can be hazardous.”

With higher fuel and food prices (CVS advertised a gallon of milk for $4.09 yesterday), I’m looking for ways to save my money. I imagine other Triangle-area residents are too. The TV Station I work for, NBC17, is seeking feedback from local folks about what they’re doing to save some extra money. People who offer particularly interesting or helpful tips may be featured in an upcoming news broadcast.

So if you’re doing something special to conserve gas, consider clicking here and posting a comment on my story about the upcoming series.

Or if you’re saving in other ways, take a look at this other article I wrote and consider sharing your money-saving tips with others. Your ideas could land you a spot on TV. And if being on TV isn’t your thing, then just think about the other people who may benefit from your ideas.

Meanwhile, do you think I’m crazy for only pumping $12 into my car? How much are you pumping in when you fuel up?

Public forum on transit scheduled for June 26

The Triangle needs some form of reliable, timely public transportation to connect us. Sure you can catch a bus in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. You can even catch a bus between the cities (though as downtown Raleigh blogger Leo recently discovered, there are some issues with it). But efforts to bring other mass transit to the Triangle have stalled mostly because it’s super expensive.

But if you’re interested in finding out what speed bumps really stand in the way of bringing enhanced transit to the Triangle, then steer yourself over to N.C. State University next week for a forum aimed at raising awareness about transit issues.

The event is called “Transit: Is Wake County Ready for It?” and is being sponsored by Wake Up Wake County, a group of residents who educate others about the effects of local growth. It runs from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Thursday June 26 at NCSU’s McKimmon Center, 1101 Gorman St., Raleigh.

The keynote speakers are Carol Coletta, who leads CEO’s for Cities and hosts an NPR syndicated program called “Smart Cities” and Keith Parker, CEO of Charlotte’s CATS, the city’s new rail service.

The forum will provide an evening of open dialogue about the real potential for transit’s success in Wake County. WakeUP hopes that the event will propel the community to action as it evaluates the recommendations recently made by the Special Transit Advisory Committee and the state’s 21^st Century Transportation Committee. No other citizen group in Wake County is organizing a similar public education event on transit.

A panel discussion on transit in the Triangle will be moderated by Nina Szlosberg, DOT and 21^st Century Transportation CommitteeBoard member. Members of the panel will include Smedes York (STAC co-chair), Courtney Crowder (SE Raleigh Assembly), Mary Ann Baldwin (Raleigh City Council), Matt Christiansen (KB Home) and other business leaders in Wake County. There will be no admission charge.

Paddling away on a sunny day

I think I have more paddle boating experience than most people my age. Growing up, my best friend Kelly and I would paddle around her parent’s small pond in their yellow paddle boat. My dorm at Southern Illinois University was just a few feet away from the campus lake, where paddle boats and kayaks provided ample distractions on warm days.

So I was thrilled when one of my friends suggested we spend Memorial Day on a paddle boat. We rented one from Lake Johnson in Raleigh for $7 an hour then pedaled the next three hours away. We saw a giant snake, a heron and many young couples snuggling along the shore (*gag*).

There are several public lakes in Raleigh and Durham where you can rent boats. It’s definitely worth checking out, especially since these lakes are likely subsidized by local taxes.

I’m also big on swimming holes. I’ve heard there are some good ones around here, especially along the Eno River. If you know of any that are worth checking out, please fill me in. Also, let me know if there are other cool local spots where you can rent boats.

Why would you wear “PoweriZers” to the mall?

I was shopping at Target Saturday, when this man pass me on these bouncy-stilt thingys. I smiled politely and then pulled out my camera and snapped this picture. I should have asked him what, why and how, but I just let him bounce out of my life as quickly as he bounced in it.

 Today one of my coworkers referenced “PoweriZers,” describing something similar to the image above, saying he saw someone wearing them this weekend at The Streets at Southpoint mall in Durham. Apparently, these things can make you jump super high and run super fast.

Poweriser running and jumping stilts will enable you to jump to heights of 5-7 feet and run at speeds of 17-21 mph!

I was about to write it off as absurd and unnecessary (at least inside a Target, right?) but then I remembered my love for the Pogoball in the 80s. But then again, I was also like 7-years-old.

Seriously, why would anyone need to wear these PoweriZers, especially to Target or the mall? Is there something I’m not getting?

So many beers, so little time

I arrived at World Beer Festival promptly at noon on Saturday. Organizers had caged off nearly every sliver of downtown Raleigh’s Moore Square with a chain link fence, and all I wanted to do was be inside it. But as my friend Graham and I rounded the corner, we saw the line of the other thirsty festival-goers snaking around a parking lot. We stood patiently in line waiting for our chance to turn over our tickets for one of the small, plastic beer glasses that would be holding our brews all day. The line moved quickly, and soon we were ushered into a tent lined on both sides with brewers ready to pour us as many different varieties of beer as we were willing to drink.

Soon we were sipping on stouts, pale ales and porters from the likes of the Starr Hill Brewery in Charlottesville, Va. to Left Hand Brewing Co. in Longmont, Colorado. And by sipping, I truly mean chugging. We walked downtown to avoid the inevitable parking hassle a festival-filled Saturday would bring and because of the inevitable beer buzz created by four hours of drinking. So after making the trek in the heat, we were thirsty. The day was punctuated by the sound of volunteers emptying recycling bins causing the glass bottles to clank together a medley that made the crowd erupt with cheers (take a listen below).

After throwing back a few tasty brews, it was time to leave the tent and see what the food vendors had to offer. Graham was satisified with some vegetarian samosas, while I opted for a chicken gyro. It was at that point that beer fest got three times better. Only after stepping outside our original beer-filled tent did I discover that there were TWO MORE huge tents filled with brewers and beer.We wandered in and out of the beer havens for the next four hours. Taking needed brakes in the shade, munching on food and, of course, braving the long bathroom lines. I wish I had kept better track of the beers I drank, because there were so many delicious brews I’d like to seek out again. But there was one that I was so smitten with, that I’ll never forget: the Vanilla Porter by Breckenridge Brewery in Denver, Colorado. It was chocolately with an smooth vanilla finish and was the only beer I got refills of.

As 4 o’clock rolled around, we were tired, bloated by beer and ready to go. I called Raleigh Rickshaw for a ride, and we rolled to the furthest edge of downtown, then stumbled the rest of the way home. Here’s a clip from the ride home:

And finally, here’s a cool video made with pictures I snapped throughout the day using animoto. I was introduced to this site a while back by blogger and beautiful picture taker Abby, and finally tried it out. See the rest of my Beer Fest pictures on Flickr.

Were you at beer fest? What did you think?

Scooby Doo took a bike ride to work with me today

I rode my purple beach cruiser to work today. You may remember that I took it to the bike shop a few weeks ago to be repaired, and even though they didn’t do a very good job, I decided to chance it and give up my car for the day.

It cost me $35 to fill up my VW Golf yesterday, so something has to change.

So I filled up the Scooby Doo book bag my sister gave me a few years ago and hit the streets. It was pretty fun, especially when I was going down hill.

I can’t promise this biking to work thing is going to become a regular part of my routine. First, my bike is one speed, which makes getting up the hills a bit of a challenge (though avid-biker Donald swears it’ll get easier after two weeks). Second, I was a little sweaty by the time I got to the station, and it wasn’t even hot or humid out this morning. So I can’t imagine how icky I’d be during the summer. There’s no shower at work.

It took about 30 minutes, but of course I had to stop and take pictures. I think if I stick with it, I can make it to work in 20 minutes, which isn’t bad.

(I took a pic of my Scooby Doo bag because I think it’s too funny that it’s the only book bag I own).

If any of you can offer some tips on how to bike to work on warm mornings and still manage to look somewhat fashionable, I’m all ears. I know I’ll need a bigger bag, but cramming clothes, shoes, make-up and all my work gear into one bag might become tricky.

Riding my bike around Raleigh

My bike broke several months ago, while I was still living on Hilton Head Island, SC. I was riding through the Sea Pines Forest Preserve when the rear wheel came loose and started to wobble. So I walked my bike home (about a 1.5 miles), and I’m sad to say it has sat unused ever since.

That’s changing this week. I dropped my purple Trek off at All-Star Bike Shop in Raleigh to be repaired. If all goes well, it should be back in working order by Wednesday.

I’m not sure how well my beach cruiser will handle Raleigh’s hills (Hilton Head Island is completely flat and located in a part of the state referred to as the Lowcountry). I hope to ditch my car more often (especially as gas prices continue to rise … I spotted $3.29 on my drive to work today) and get to know my city by bike.

So hopefully my cute bike will be in working order soon. Then I can take advantage of Raleigh’s bike routes.

Update (Just got an e-mail with this news):

PUBLIC INVITED TO BICYCLE PLAN OPEN HOUSE ON APRIL 2

The City of Raleigh and the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation are developing a citywide comprehensive bicycle plan for the Capital City.

The City’s original bicycle plan was adopted in 1991 and subsequently incorporated in the City’s Comprehensive Plan. The comprehensive bicycle plan will include a thorough update of the original plan and provide an integrated, seamless transportation framework to facilitate cycling as a viable transportation alternative throughout Raleigh.

An open house will be held on Wednesday, April 2 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Glen Eden Pilot Neighborhood Center to ask for the public’s input and ideas on bicycle routes, infrastructure and facilities in Raleigh. The Glen Eden Pilot Neighborhood Center is located at 1500 Glen Eden Drive.

Imagine if you could take a ride a train around the Triangle

There’s proof in Charlotte that light rail can work in North Carolina.

Don’t be fooled by the empty seats around Ginny from the Blog on Charlotte’s Lynx tonight (I’m in the Queen City for more training) , because ridership on this new light rail system is booming:

Ridership on the Lynx Blue Line has so far been better than CATS projected. Average weekday ridership in December was more than 12,000 boardings per day. It estimated first-year average weekday ridership would be 9,100 boardings.

So Triangle residents, I’m curious, would you pay increased sales taxes or increased fees on your vehicle registration if it would help bring the light rail here?

“That’s right, my flag is bigger than yours”

I saw this man riding down Peace Street in Raleigh on Saturday morning. Wish I knew his story. Since I don’t, anyone up for writing a caption for this photo? Better yet, if you know why he cruises around town towing these flags, please fill me in.