Planes, Trains, and Automobiles to Tacoma
Sep. 3rd, 2021 01:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerTacoma, WA. Fri, 3 Sep 2021, 1:00am
This evening was a process of planes, trains and automobiles. Well, no trains this time; that's just part of the set phrase. A friendly neighbor drove us to San Jose airport. From there we flew to Seattle, rented a car, and drove 21 miles to Tacoma. You might recognize Tacoma from the name of Seattle's airport. Tacoma is the "Tac" in Sea-Tac.
Schedules tonight have been only slightly delayed. Our flight departed 15 minutes late mostly because a passenger across the aisle from me was having a panic attack about flying. She tried to leave the aircraft a few times, getting as far as the jet bridge before her husband berated her into coming back. After the bridge pulled back she started asking the crew to be allowed off, and her husband went into a full-blown handing her of her ass. I don't know what was said because it was in a foreign language, but his tone was clear. Remarkable she did not seem to be rattled by his belittling her but she was steadfast in wanting to leave. The crew radioed to have the jet bridge brought back, and the two adults and their young child scuttled off the plane.
Despite the delay getting off the blocks at SJC we arrived at SEA pretty much on time. The airlines pad the schedules to allow for little delays like that occurring. Once at SEA, though, there were more delays. The airport was kind of a mad-house considering it was 11pm already. Many outbound flights were delayed and were still boarding even as an army of janitors was coming out and trying to clean the floors under everyone's feet.
The car rental depot was little better. First, there was a long line to board a bus to the depot. At least the driver was very methodical in boarding the maximum number of people and their bags. All the rental agency counters were teeming with tired customers. Fortunately my elite status with one meant that I had already selected my car via the app. I skipped the lines, walked straight to my car, found the keys inside, and drove toward the exit gate.
Our hotel in Tacoma is only 22 miles from SEA airport. We took a break in the middle of the drive, though, to get late-night snacks. We were hungry!
We reached our hotel in downtown Tacoma around 12:15am. That was later than I hoped but not badly so. Now it's going on 1am and we're still winding down for the night. Those snacks we bought an hour ago (sugar + caffeine FTW!) certainly aren't helping. 😅
Although Tacoma is our destination for the night it's only a way station on our trip. Tomorrow we'll continue out to the Olympic Peninsula to start a four day visit to Olympic National Park. We're looking forward to it! Too bad the weather forecast is cool weather and clouds all weekend.
This evening was a process of planes, trains and automobiles. Well, no trains this time; that's just part of the set phrase. A friendly neighbor drove us to San Jose airport. From there we flew to Seattle, rented a car, and drove 21 miles to Tacoma. You might recognize Tacoma from the name of Seattle's airport. Tacoma is the "Tac" in Sea-Tac.
Schedules tonight have been only slightly delayed. Our flight departed 15 minutes late mostly because a passenger across the aisle from me was having a panic attack about flying. She tried to leave the aircraft a few times, getting as far as the jet bridge before her husband berated her into coming back. After the bridge pulled back she started asking the crew to be allowed off, and her husband went into a full-blown handing her of her ass. I don't know what was said because it was in a foreign language, but his tone was clear. Remarkable she did not seem to be rattled by his belittling her but she was steadfast in wanting to leave. The crew radioed to have the jet bridge brought back, and the two adults and their young child scuttled off the plane.
Despite the delay getting off the blocks at SJC we arrived at SEA pretty much on time. The airlines pad the schedules to allow for little delays like that occurring. Once at SEA, though, there were more delays. The airport was kind of a mad-house considering it was 11pm already. Many outbound flights were delayed and were still boarding even as an army of janitors was coming out and trying to clean the floors under everyone's feet.
The car rental depot was little better. First, there was a long line to board a bus to the depot. At least the driver was very methodical in boarding the maximum number of people and their bags. All the rental agency counters were teeming with tired customers. Fortunately my elite status with one meant that I had already selected my car via the app. I skipped the lines, walked straight to my car, found the keys inside, and drove toward the exit gate.
Our hotel in Tacoma is only 22 miles from SEA airport. We took a break in the middle of the drive, though, to get late-night snacks. We were hungry!
We reached our hotel in downtown Tacoma around 12:15am. That was later than I hoped but not badly so. Now it's going on 1am and we're still winding down for the night. Those snacks we bought an hour ago (sugar + caffeine FTW!) certainly aren't helping. 😅
Although Tacoma is our destination for the night it's only a way station on our trip. Tomorrow we'll continue out to the Olympic Peninsula to start a four day visit to Olympic National Park. We're looking forward to it! Too bad the weather forecast is cool weather and clouds all weekend.
