Barbara J. Hamby

Back Home Again

After spending at least an hour trying to find my way into Sea-Tac Airport last week and struggling to be in the right lane to leave it today, I wonder if inaccessibility is a problem for others. Maybe I’m just getting old. Perhaps those who always go to the same airport never have any trouble, at least after the first trip. I did finally find the correct route to get on I-5 southbound in spite of all the trucks that were blocking the signs. Probably the way the roads are engineered at airports has nothing, or at least very little, to do with so many airlines being in bankruptcy. Certainly it discourages me from driving there.

Recently I bought a book in an airport store that offers a trade-in toward the price of a new book if you take it to another airport bookstore after you’ve finished reading it. I wouldn’t drive to an airport now for $100.00, much less a few bucks off the price of a book. I would do it for friends and relatives, however. When I was younger and my son played in a trio that performed at the Portland airport, I drove out there a few times to hear them play. But that was about three remodeling projects ago. I can hardly find my way around that airport now, and it’s the one I go to most often.

Enough grousing, I am back home and the drive, after I got on the freeway, was unusually pleasant. Traffic was light from Olympia on down and the weather was nice. A short shower north of Chehalis and a few sprinkles at Woodland were not bad. I enjoyed my half sandwich with coffee and cookies at a rest stop and called that lunch. I thought about a bowl of hot soup, but recognized it would probably take at least a half hour off my time and I was anxious to get home. My car performed well and got nearly 30 miles to the gallon. A good surprise was the price of gasoline at our local station when I filled up. I had almost stopped in Vancouver where gas was $2.39 a gallon, but was delighted to find it was $2.35 here. I paid about $2.53 in Seattle. I guess I don’t clean my car out often, because I found a receipt in it today for gasoline at $1.99. Actually, I rounded these prices off; each was really most of a penny more.

It’s time to get some rest. Tomorrow will be a busy day