Holiday travel is all the proof an alien culture would need to prove that human beings are clinically insane.
The roads are wet, snowy or icy, and congested. Planes and trains are crowded. People are grumpy. And now the TSA has added intimate pat-down searches to the mix.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Our desire to spend time with friends and family must be very strong for us to put up with all this stuff.
So, that leaves making the best of it. Driving at off-peak times, preparing for bad weather, allowing extra time, booking early for train rides, bus rides and flights, and showing up early are basically our choices.
By car: I drive to my cousin’s house near Portland every year on Thanksgiving morning. I do it in the morning because I’d rather get there at 11 a.m. and still have all the rest of Thanksgiving Day rather than fight some of the worst traffic of the year in descending darkness and rain on Wednesday.
The effectiveness of my strategy, however, depends on one thing: leaving early. If I’m not through Tacoma by 8:30 a.m, I get stuck in traffic there or between Olympia and Centralia. When that’s happened, it’s turned what is otherwise a three-hour breeze into a five-hour jag.
The peak travel times Thanksgiving weekend, according to the state Department of Transportation, are 2 to 7 p.m. Wednesday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. From my experience, 9 a.m. to about 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day is right up there as well.
The transportation department has a Web page with links to advice for holiday travel and ways to check traffic and weather: www.wsdot.wa.gov/News/2010/11/ThanksgivingTraffic.htm. By train: Train rides from Everett to Portland take about 5 hours, or more if connections must be made. Still, not having to drive would have its advantages. Amtrak has added 11 trains between Seattle and Portland for the holiday weekend, from Wednesday through Sunday. Check schedules and fares here: www.AmtrakCascades.com or call 800-USA-RAIL.
By bus: Not my thing. Google.
By plane: I flew once at Christmas 20 years ago and have not done so since. Enough said. My advice: if it’s not life or death, don’t do it. Eat frozen pizza if you have to. If you’ve already booked your flight, leave ridiculously early.
Keep in mind that Wednesday is “National Opt Out Day,” in which some passengers plan to protest the rule that allows the TSA to conduct pat-down searches of intimate body locations for people who don’t submit to an electronic body scan. The protestors plan to choose the search, messing things up as much as possible.
For more information on the world of flying, click here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_mJdxtnp TQ&feature=player_embedded.
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Robert Verginia of Lynnwood writes: Are you aware if there any plans in the works to add a traffic light or circle at the intersection of the southbound exit of Highway 525 and Alderwood Mall Parkway? At that point, turning left after exiting Highway 525 southbound is an extreme hazard. The road is very busy and often I have sat for several minutes before I felt safe to proceed. I have, on occasion, turned right instead and made a U-turn at the Arco station.
With the addition of the new 164th street Fred Meyer store, along with its gas station and new strip mall under construction, the volume of traffic has increased, and will continue to do so. I have talked to several co-workers and neighbors who say they avoid that intersection because it’s just too dangerous.
Bronlea Mishler, spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation, responds: We are aware of this situation but unfortunately we don’t have any funding to make safety improvements in this area. We will continue to monitor traffic, and we will work with the city of Lynnwood and Snohomish County to find funding for improvements to the intersection as development in the area increases.
Look for updates on our Street Smarts blog at www.heraldnet.com/streetsmarts.
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