To Work

I'm sure you are all dying to know what it's like to walk two and a half blocks to work. I am not special. As you can see, i have a lot of company during my walk. When the train arrives at the foot of the stadium, all of us passengers cram up two escalators and two sets of stairs. We spill out into the transit lobby of the stadium and pour out the doors. Half the crowd walks across the Light Rail's tracks to catch the Light Rail, the other half takes the route i'm showing you above.

In the winter time, we didn't have this wide open space to walk on. There were barriers up due to construction. The only space we had was between the line of sidewalk lights and the Light Rail. Now, there is this open free space! To my right are the gates to get into the Twins stadium. You can peer right through into the concourse then through to the seats laying beyond. I didn't take pictures of that. Who would have been interested in seeing that? JUST kidding. I didn't want to look like an idiot. Maybe another day when i don't care what people think, i'll take a ton of pics from the skyway all the way to the entrance of the transit lobby. ;)



I'm still on the sidewalk by the stadium. When i came back to work after maternity leave, i parked in a lot that is two blocks to the left of where i'm standing (the next picture is me turning to the left). It was an open lot underneath the freeway bridges. It was cheap. I would walk by the closed nightclubs/bars (peer inside), take a left at the end of the row of buildings, and walked down the steep slope under the bridge to my car. I walked by the construction site of the Twins stadium everyday. Part of me thought i should have taken pictures every week of the progress... but i didn't. The nice thing about that long walk after work, with each step the day got left behind.




Hey look! The Light Rail... :) I only got the few shots that i did because i haven't become very skilled at not looking like a tourist taking pictures during the morning commute. Besides, it was Monday, i'm sure people would have been thrilled that someone was stopping in front of them to take pictures of everyday norm.

I still have to laugh at myself during my walks to and from whatever i'm taking home, the bus or train etc. Someone wrote a comment in the paper about how the trains downtown don't make sense because it doesn't drop you off nearly as close to your destination as the buses do. Obviously that person doesn't take public transportation. When i take the bus in the morning, i have the option of getting off at two different stops. Either one is still 3 blocks away from work. Hmmm... i guess i see how that person's logic works.

I personally like the walks. It's the two times during the day i'm guaranteed to be hauling my butt fast! It never fails, i leave my desk at the last possible moment, impatiently wait in the elevator as it chugs down 24 floors (stops every 2 floors) to the lobby, dash through the skyways, down the stairs, down two blocks, just to barely make the bus. I should give myself some credit. Most days i make it too early, even though i think i'm late. Then i end up waiting 10 minutes for the bus. When that happens, it's usually the days it's raining, snowing, freezing etc.

The train i'm more paranoid about. If i miss that, i'm stuck for another half hour. Doesn't work if i'm picking Olivia up on those days. So that route is, leave my desk on time, impatiently wait in the elevator as it chugs down 24 floors (stops every 2 floors) to the lobby, dash through the skyways, down the stairs, through the block long bus garage, down another block, down MORE stairs, just to get a good seat on the train. whew... darn elevator.