Summer Transportation

Getting around in the summer is very different than in any other season, especially where I live. There are oodles of tourists here and they clog up all the major roads and even the minor ones. They make my 8 minute commute last as long as 20 minutes sometimes (violins please). It's so nice to just walk in the summer, but we can't always do that because there isn't usually time, and often we have too far to go. Kids have to be places, adults have to be other places and everyone has to be on time. Summer transportation dilemmas include which vehicle, what time, who's driving, which route and just plain old patience. Most of those issues are the same all year 'round, but in the summer I notice it more - because I don't want a roof over my head when I drive, and I want my summer driving to be fun.
My kids go to a summer day camp every year. They have to be there 1/2 hour before I have to be at work - so the timing is fine. Unfortunately, they have to stay there until I get out of work at 5:00 or sometimes even 5:30. Long day for kids - for anyone if you're out in the sun all day. I'd really like to allow them to get out of camp earlier, like most of the kids do, but I can't - I work and so does my husband. In a couple of years they will be able to be at home on their own, but not just yet. My son is probably old enough to ride his bike to camp now, but that leaves my daughter out. And, if he rides to camp, does he get to leave earlier and ride home to be alone for a couple of hours? Would he be responsible enough to call me every afternoon when he gets home to let me know he's there and he made it home okay?
This year, I'm carpooling the kids with another little girl who goes to camp too. She'll arrive at my house at 7:30 each morning and her mother will pick up all three kids and drive them home each day. My son doesn't want to go to her house every single day - there aren't any boys for him to play with there. Should she just drop him off at home? It's only an hour before I get home. Should she just drop both of them off?
So, I drive my little car to work every day. It's a small car and gets pretty good gas mileage, and I only drive 4 miles each way. Still, gas is so expensive now and I would love to be able to use less of it, and to create less pollution - you know, do my small part. My neighbor just got a new scooter. It's very cool. She drives it all over town each day. It holds 2 gallons of gas, but it gets something like 70 miles to the gallon. How cool is that? My husband and I have been contemplating getting one of these for me. I could take it to work each day and back. I don't really carry much to work or run a lot of errands while I'm at work. But, I do bring the kids to and from camp all summer long. So, back to that. I could bring them to camp, go home and get my scooter and go to work. But that seems like a waste of time and energy, doesn't it? If my son rode his bike, I could take my daughter to camp on the scooter. I could do that at least a couple of days each week - that would be something.
The other day, my husband offered that I should ride my bike to work. I had been complaining that I've been so lazy about exercising lately. I could do that up until camp starts, while the kids are still taking the bus in the morning. There are only 7 people where I work, and currently three of them are riding their bikes to work every day it doesn't rain. They all live much further away than I do. So, it seems like a good idea. It's only about 4 miles. But, then I thought about my bike. It's so matronly, so...LLBean motherly. They all have fast looking 10 speeds, and special shoes and stuff. I would be wearing bike riding/work clothes (whatever that might be) and regular old sneakers. I'm just not sure I'm cool enough to ride my bike to work. And my bike would look really silly leaning against the building with all of their cool bikes.
I'd love an old Volkswagen beetle; yellow convertible please. That would make driving anywhere in the summer tons of fun. I'd keep it filled with cold lemonade and beach towels.