Three local families are enjoying a friendly competition to "Drive Less, Save More" - and keeping track of their experiences in this exclusive kgw.com "Going Green" blog. Check back daily to read about their experiences.

Jordan Family :

The Jordan family (left to right): Jaymes, Gretchen, Jackie and Bill (and terrier Jake)

Friday, June 22

Got a ride to work today! At lunch I walked over to Shari’s to meet Dad, who was on his way home. After work I took the 152 to the mall, where I had a present to buy. Then I took the 79 to the OCTC. I took the 32 and got off by Fred Meyer for more shopping. Mom picked me up on her way home. Overall today I felt I id the best I had done all week. Overall, I thought this experience was great. This a lifestyle my family and I could start doing. Well got to go, carpool is waiting!

-Jackie Jordan

With the weekend bus / max trip to the downtown , zoo, Orenco station for recreation we have seen in the last week how communications can help us to do a better job of combining and lowering our overall miles driven. I feel somewhat left out as I still drove to work each day but by using a higher mileage car the costs were lower. We always had the ability but for some reason never thought of sharing rides (Gretchen and Jackie) because the time didn't match exactly, but by combining errands with the trip to or from home it allowed us to spend the time waiting in a productive manner. We have decided to continue to try to keep up what we have done the past week and make a impact on our expenses.

-Bill Jordan

Top ten things I learned during the Drive Less Save more family challenge:

10. Communication with your family is a must! After we all talked about our transportation needs, we found it was easy to combine trips.

9. Some trips can wait. It was easier to combine trips rather than just keep biking or walking to the store.

8. Lots of online tools are available to help you figure out where you want to go! By using google maps, tri met, and other sites, it’s easy to figure your way around.

7. Multi-tasking is WAY easier when Tri-Met is driving!

6. When riding my bike or on the bus, it’s easier to scope out the upcoming yard sales, construction, neighborhood happenings, etc.

5. Walking a few minutes a day to the bus stop or for a quick coffee from work does wonders for the body and mind!

4. It’s easy to downsize your load to and from work when you have to carry or bike it yourself. Often I left the work at work!

3. Stress levels go down when you don’t have to worry about parking or navigating the construction downtown.

2. Flex Car. It is a great transportation option I recommend highly! Plus, they are also located in other cities I travel to, and will be a great option instead of renting a car.

1. When riding my bike, the ‘pro’ bikers in those spandex shorts give me a nice courtesy nod or wave. Thanks fellow bikers! Bike safely!

-Gretchen Jordan

Thursday, June 21

Today was another "normal" day With Gretchen and Jackie carpooling the Honda was free for me to take to work last night. Coming home this morning I was able to do some banking. I had planed it the day before and taken the paperwork with me, and since I tend to forget and have to go back after I get home I wrote a note to myself and left it in the car . This evening we planed tomorrows various trips and worked out how to get them done with the least driving.We also planned a Sat Family outing using the Bus and Max to visit some new places. Communication has been the key this week rather than each person just going their own way.

-Bill Jordan

I took the bus & max to a meeting downtown today. The good thing was that I didn’t have to drive, and of course didn’t have to worry about parking. Both the bus I took and the Max line ran very frequently – I didn’t have to wait more than a few minutes. The bus line took a bit longer than I thought; but I have a blackberry and was able to keep up with my emails on the way. Next time I’ll use the trip check on TriMet.org to see if there’s a quicker way. I also have some flexibility with my work schedule so that instead of going back to the office I could just go home after the meeting (which is shorter to get home for me). Walking to and from the stops was nice as it was a beautiful day!

-Gretchen Jordan

The best part of the day was when Jackie and I were discussing how to carpool tomorrow. While my work takes us in opposite directions, she found a friend she could carpool with in the morning. We discussed taking the bus home, or perhaps her dad could pick her up. Jackie asked me, ‘is there something else Dad needs to do so he doesn’t have to make the trip just for me?’ I think this concept will become a habit. We should notice a big savings on our fuel bill this month! Today mom and I carpooled. I also cut back on my driving for lunch by bringing a lunch to work. I am finding that driving smarter is not harder; it is much easier. Dad’s wallet is staying full this week (kind of)!

-Jackie Jordan

Wednesday, June 20

Mom and I carpooled today. I dropped her off at the Flexcar. After work, I was invited to my girlfriends house for her birthday party. Mom picked up the car from there, and she took it home. My boyfriend Daniel came to the party later and we drove home. Before the challenge, we just would have taken two cars. This has been pretty easy so far!

-Jackie Jordan

I have been ‘trip chaining’ on the way home from work. Had breakfast (I work nights) on the way home and then took the route home to stop by my parents house. They were having trouble with their phones so I could fix them there instead of having to go back down later on. I think I have saved several trips by planning my stops on the way home or two work. There will be less errands to do this weekend.

-Bill Jordan

I tried the Flexcar today. It was great! It is similar to a rental car, but you can take it in short or long increments. It was very easy to access. Several of my coworkers also needed to go to Salem, so we all carpooled down in the Flexcar. I must have explained it to ten different people! After dropping off the Flexcar, a co-worker gave me a ride to where Jackie was with her car at her friends party, and I took the car home. I also needed make a few stops on the way home, so I made those on the way home. My mom also called to see if she could get a ride home from her doctor appointment but I couldn’t this time because of my meeting in Salem. I did stop by on the way home to check in. Tomorrow I am going to try and take the bus & max downtown to a meeting instead of taking the car and figuring out the construction and finding parking.

-Gretchen Jordan

Tuesday, June 19th

Jackie stepped up and took the bus and bike with me! We had fun figuring out the best route. We talked about how easy it would be to go downtown for shopping and not having to hassle with parking and the construction. With some advance planning it could work great! At the end of the day, it was easy to stop by Fred Meyer and pick up a few groceries to take home for dinner, thanks to our trusty backpacks. We're not riding so much that it's overly taxing, but I can tell it's a good workout. If I continue, then I could always ride a little longer every time I wanted more of a workout.

At work today, instead of planning a meeting face to face, I arranged for a conference call instead. All the participants were glad to do it so they could reduce their driving too! All my co-workers have been very supportive. Tomorrow, I have a meeting in Salem, so I'm going to try taking a Flex Car.

-Gretchen Jordan

Monday night I took the Chevy Cavalier to work, leaving the truck at home again. On the way home Tuesday morning I made several stops , including a stop for breakfast ! One of the stores didn't have the part I was looking for so I decided to order online and have delivered rather than drive around looking for it.

-Bill Jordan

Today mom and I did a combination of riding our bikes and riding the bus. It was fun and also a little exhausting, but well worth the exercise. I also got a chance to talk with mom during the bus commute. After work mom and I went to Freddy's to pick up something for dinner, then over to Joanne's to pick up some project fabric. I hope that we'll get another chance this week to ride bikes or even just bus all the way to work!

-Jackie Jordan

Monday, June 18th:

Biking went well! I had good information from Tri-Met and the bike rack was easier than I thought. The bike and bus trip of course took longer, but if I had stopped at a gym to work out it would have been more time than that. The bus drivers were all great! I had a nice ride home too, Jackie bussed home with me (and the bike on the rack) and we had a nice chat on the bus. Normally at home we'd all be doing our own thing, so it was really nice to have the talking time. I'm figuring out the Tri-Met schedules so perhaps my meeting downtown on Thursday can be via bus & Max, which would be great to avoid parking and the construction downtown.

- Gretchen Jordan

With Gretchen Taking the Bike/ Bus to work the Honda was avail for me to use for work Sunday eve. After some mileage checks I found a direct route (99E) that will take longer... 10 or 15 mins but save me about 10 miles a day round trip.I'm not sure how much the stop and go driving will effect mileage VS freeway I was taking. I "trip chained" by dropping off a gift to my Dad ( Fathers Day) Normally I would have made a special trip to deliver it to him in the AM but I phoned and made arrangements to stop by while on way to work. My intention is not to use the truck this work week. With Jackie and Gretchen's cooperation this will be possible.

- Bill Jordan

Sunday June 17th

We used the car pool method today. Although there was a little anxiety to rush home after we had all car pooled to church, I think using this method works as long as all are willing to compromise. We all had seperate plans that we wanted to do, Dad wanted a paper, Mom wanted a salmon for dinner, and I needed to return a video to Hollywood Video. We decided to go to the Hollywood video then walk over to the Danielsons, which is next door, to buy the fish and the paper.

- Jackie Jordan

We normally would have taken two cars to church, but with some advance coordination we all took one car. Instead of running back and forth dropping off and picking up, we had Jackie drop Bill, Jaymes and I off for breakfast while she went ahead early. Then we just walked to church from there. We did our errands on the way home, and then we were able to stay home the rest of the day. That was great, as usually it seems we spend half the day in the car driving around. Nice and relaxing evening!

- Gretchen Jordan