Design Thinking Level One: Empathize
It has been a dream of mine ever since I got my ORCA card, to see how far it could take me. I mean, normally I just take the 62 or the 73. But it's free, so why not make use of it while I’m a student? More importantly, could I go on vacation, or a day trip, at last minute's notice? With ADHD, the concept of an entire vacation last minute is very appealing to me (this is foreshadowing).
Design Thinking Level Two: Define
I set out on this quest a couple of weeks ago, and I involved Jonah almost immediately. We (Jonah) went through every transit system the ORCA card supports and made a Google Maps list of all the furthest destinations. This took us a bit, and there was some confusion, since technically we can ride some transit systems free, but not because we have an ORCA card and because we are under 18. The idea is we will go to one of these places, get lunch there, and return home in time for cross country practice.
Design Thinking Level Three: Ideate
We constructed a Google Maps list with the furthest destination from each transit system supported by the ORCA card. There were places in every direction, so we narrowed them down by distance until we had 3 places: Darrington, Spanaway, and Orcas Island. Orcas went quickly because it’s a multi-day trip that doesn’t solely use an ORCA card and we settled on Darrington because it’s further than Spanaway.
Design Thinking Level Four: Prototype
Darrington is the furthest place we can get to with an ORCA card, and if we leave at 8 AM, we arrive in Darrington at 12-ish and get back to Jonah's house at 4 PM, leaving us just enough time to get to cross county practice. We decided the trip would be lonely with just the two of us, so Jonah invited his girlfriend, Alice, and I invited my friend, Anneke (who was dating Callum, different Callum though). I mean, we both invited more people but who wants to show up at Jonah's house at 8 AM to spent 7 hours on public transit just to eat lunch?
Design Thinking Level Four Point One: Safety
So obviously sending a bunch of high schoolers to Tacoma on public transit is destined to fail, luckily, we came prepared. I researched wildfires in the area, and I contacted their Ranger Station to confirm public transit to Darrington was operating as usual and there was only minor risk of us being stranded there (due to fires). Jonah and I packed battery packs, and I checked the T-Mobile website to make sure there is cellular the entire way there and back (there is 4G/5G the entire way). We brought cash in case we needed to pay the bus fare for whatever reason, and obviously the basics like water and a snack if needed. I packed coffee for everyone's safety on the trip, and I put an AirTag in my shoe for my parent's comfort. Oh and, we made sure everyone (including parents) knew the route we were going to take.
Design Thinking Level Four Point Five: Last Minute Rewrite The Entire Plan
So 11:30 PM the night before, Jonah texts me saying "we can't go to Darrington", so confused I get in a call with him, and we talk. As it turns out, the bus to Darrington leaves twice a day once at 7 AM and once at 7 PM, how Google/Apple Maps didn't know this I cannot say, but good we figured that out before we left. So, since Darrington was crossed off the list of places we could go we picked the second furthest, the middle of nowhere below Tacoma. We decided to get off 3 stops early though so that we would end up in a cute town called Spanaway, with a cafe/diner and a lake. So, we updated all the parents, and kids on our new destination. Very little changed in the end because all the safety precautions were still there, and wildfire risk is a lot lower in Spanaway than it is in Darrington. Here is the final route to Spanaway we decided on
Design Thinking Level Five: Test
We all woke up (very) early and headed to Jonah's house (I arrived 10 minutes late as per usual). We boarded the 62, and we were off. After taking the light rail down to T-Mobile Park, we boarded the 594 (which has remarkably comfortable seats) and spent about an hour on the highway. With no seat belts. Talk about safety. Then we waited for about 15 minutes, Jonah got some cold brew, and boarded the 1 bus (the final bus in our trip).
30 minutes into our bus ride, my dad sent me a text asking “are you going in the right direction?”. Jonah and I pulled out our maps and figured out that we boarded the 1 bus going the wrong direction putting us 30 minutes away from our original transit plan. Alice needed to get to cross country on time so she could go to the meet on Saturday. We thought about it and decided that we didn't have time to spend 8 hours on a bus.
So, we got lunch at Ivar's, and two bags of Swedish Fish (at Rite-Aid) for the road. We had extra time going back since we did not go all the way to Spanaway, so we stopped at a park, everyone used the bathrooms, and I attempted to teach Anneke the song Mary Had a Little Lamb, which went awfully since as it turns out Anneke is tone deaf. We got back with 30 minutes to spare before cross country, which after sitting on a bus for 7 hours was a huge relief.
Design Thinking Level Six: Reflect
We all agreed that we would have to do this again sometime to attempt to travel further, or just to go somewhere else. Despite never reaching Spanaway, the fish sandwich was very tasty, and we all had a blast. The only thing to do differently next time is check Maps more often to make sure we do not board the wrong bus. The trip to Ivar's ended up being 46.57 mi (74.95 km), making the round trip 93.14 mi (149.9 km). If we had not gone the wrong way, we could've passed 100 mi, but that's a goal for next time.
Design Thinking Level Seven: Some Photos
Here's everyone who went, Jonah on the left followed by Alice, me, and Anneke.
This is my shoe, with an AirTag in it. Done so my parents know where I am even if my phone dies (so long as there's other people in the vicinity with charged iPhones).
Boy it is way too early to be riding the 62, especially considering there's no school.
Is this really a smart idea? I could turn back now.
The light rail was surprisingly busy, luckily we were only on it for 10 minutes.
I really do need coffee; Anneke and I are trying desperately to make it to Tacoma (where they have coffee). This bus has no stops for about 50 minutes while it goes on the highway from Seattle to Tacoma, thank God for earbuds.
Here is the small cafe Jonah got cold brew from, there wasn't any milk in it though.
Sitting around waiting for the 1 bus to come, Alice and I (obviously) had to race to the end of the block. As the superior runner I won, by about 0.5 seconds.
After Jonah and I realise we've tragically taking the 1 bus in the wrong direction, Jonah stares out the window in deep thought formulating a new plan.
Was it worth it to spend 7 hours on a bus (in total) to go to Ivar's to get lunch? Maybe not, but the fish sandwich isn't what's important, it's the journey that counts. I mean, the fish sandwich too.
Anneke and I played a beautiful duet on the toy at the playground. Need I say more?
This is the worst merry-go-round I've ever used, 2/5 stars only fun when someone is actively struggling to keep it spinning. I am only complaining because I volunteered to do that, it was actually pretty fun. This park is where Alice managed to eat an entire bag of Swedish fish by herself, despite Jonah's constant attempts at protecting them.
The "United States District Court of Washington - Tacoma" is quite a pretty building
The light rail is very crowded again...now that I think about it, probably because of the games happening today.
