LRT Ride

... watching the S205 Bobcat from the LRT pedestrian walkover ..

The stars lined up for a trip I have been wanting to take.

Michael and I had the morning together. I have been promising him a ride on the LRT.

I have a pass with an unlimited number of rides on it. The weather was perfect. In January perfect weather means it is above zero. The last time Michael and I went on an adventure we walked so far that he came home with blisters on his heels.  Well, we didn't get all the way, without me carrying him.  I didn’t know that blisters on his heels was why he refused to walk one step further on that trip.

... the 9 am morning sky to the south at the LRT walkover on Crowchild Trail ...

Now he has new boots.

Now I know that I should take along a stroller when we walk.

Since he is tall, I have to keep reminding myself he is not even 2 ½. Just a baby, really.  When we go on our adventures, I cannot tell if he will be pushing the stroller, or in the stroller. The stroller only functions as a way to transport him if he is too tired to walk in which case pushing the stroller turns into a way for me to get more exercise.

... Michael Johnson's  first LRT ride ...

I am on a high learning curve with strollers.

Is it easier to push the stroller through the packed snow at each street corner?

Or should I  turn around and pull the stroller  through backwards?

That is a choice to make at every intersection.

 For one thing, I know the safety bar on the stroller works well. In the alley by the Kaleidoscope Apartment building, the stroller slipped over on its side from the deep ruts. No problem for Michael. His snow suit is padded with bubble wrapped.

We lingered on the corner of the LRT station to watch the bucket of a small bobcat being filled up with snow and seeing it dumped into the Calgary Transit Dump truck. I thought the charm of the trip for Michael would be the ride on the train. No. He wanted to get off at every station and be strolled along the platform.

.... the train platform -- a place to wave to cars and trains ...

Escalators lead to the pedestrian walk overs. I can manage a couple of pieces of luggage on an escalator, but not a stroller so we activated the HELP button to the elevator. A faceless voice asks for information from you, since this is the button where patrons also report crime, vandalism and bullying. “A ride up the elevator, please.” That is all we wanted. Our morning started at 9 am and finished at 12:15 pm. We didn’t get any further than up to the Crowfoot Terminus and back home to the University Station. I am not going to try to get to the Summerset Station in south Calgary until we can shave minutes, maybe hours off of the northern line.

A day I will remember.

Arta