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Getting there

By LORRIE LYKINS
Published January 26, 2005

CINDY MOON, 44

Starting line: Dunedin, near Morton Plant Mease Hospital.

Finish line: Depending on my schedule, 8000 Starkey Road in Seminole or 45th Street N, St. Petersburg.

The ride: A black Ford Explorer 1996 with over 100,000 miles. My other car is a 2005 Rolls-Royce (ha, ha!). Seriously, we are in the market for a new car - looking at Expeditions.

Approximate gas mileage: 18 miles to the gallon.

The route I take to St. Petersburg - south on County Road 1 to Belleair, east to U.S. 19, take U.S. 19 south to 54th Avenue N, west on 54th Avenue to 45th Street. The route I take to Seminole - south on County Road 1, which turns into Keene and then Starkey Road. The school is located at 8000 Starkey Road.

Do you ever vary your route?

I do - when traveling to St. Pete, sometimes I take County Road 1 to Park Boulevard and head east on Park to 49th Street. Turn right on 49th Street and then left on 54th Avenue to 45th Street. Even if I want to vary my route sometimes, I'm on automatic pilot and instinctively go the same way.

Distance/length of commute?

To St. Pete is about 19 miles; to Seminole is about 11 miles.

How long does it take?

On a good day I can get to Seminole in 20 to 30 minutes and to St. Pete in 40-50 minutes (in the morning). Most afternoons, however, due to traffic, it takes me up to 45 minutes to travel home from Seminole and over an hour to get home from St. Pete.

Latest you can leave for work in the morning and be on time?

If I leave by 6:45 a.m. I will get to either campus in ample time.

What time do you usually arrive home after work?

I usually arrive home between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. if I don't have an evening meeting or event.

Do you carpool?

Only if I have car trouble. If so, I meet up with a teacher who lives 15 minutes south of me. No one else lives this far away!

How long have you been commuting?

From Dunedin for the last 10 years. Before, I lived in downtown Clearwater (15 minutes north) but I still had a nice long ride.

What do you like about your commute?

It allows me to have time with my travel buddy, my daughter Meghan, although most mornings she is asleep. But when she gets in the car after school, she begins gibbering away about her day. We usually end up in hysterics when she shares her comical stories. When she sleeps in the morning, I usually end up on the cell phone preplanning the day's meetings or conferencing with a colleague.

What do you dislike about the commute?

The traffic at the end of the day is sometimes unbearable.

Did you plan for the commute?

We have always liked Dunedin, which is a very quaint town, so I guess I could say that we chose to live here despite the commute. My father-in-law lives two blocks away and it's important to be close to him.

Any daily rituals related to your commute?

We try to stop at La La's doughnuts for coffee/milk and a bagel or doughnut at least once a week.

What do other drivers do that annoy you?

I've seen an increase in road rage over the past few years and impatient drivers, not necessarily toward me, but in general. I think it says a lot about our society and it worries me. I do get annoyed when people don't follow the speed limit and go at a very leisurely rate - I have places to go and people to see!

What do you do that annoys other drivers?

I am sure my bad habit of talking on the cell phone is annoying to others - I often see other drivers give me looks of annoyance.

Weirdest thing you've seen on the road?

I used to take a detour when the hot dog stands with the provocative ladies were around. My son - who was 10 or 11 at the time - typically did a lot of reading or homework on car rides, but he would get very distracted when he saw the provocative girls in thongs.

Now, sadly we see a lot of dead animals on the road and Meghan gets very distraught and upset. A cute thing was a family of ducks walking across U.S. 19 holding up traffic for miles.

Know someone whose commute would be worth chronicling in this space? Maybe your own? Then e-mail Lorrie Lykins at commutertales@yahoo.com

[Last modified January 26, 2005, 00:13:15]