Now - for something a little different...
I, like most Americans, rely heavily on my private automobile to get me almost everywhere of importance. Now, I love the independence of putting the keys in the ignition and pulling on to the open road, I can get about anywhere that I want to be. Getting behind the wheel is a great feeling (only better if not everybody else was doing the same thing and putting their traffic on my roads).
I know there are other ways to get to Point B; slower, more expensive and less convenient, never-the-less, there are ways. I have discover yet another way myself, my discovery was purposeful and planned, it was slower, less convenient (but one always pays for convenience you gotta know), and cheaper. I had family business to attend to in NW Washington in early June. I was dropped off at DFW Airport where I boarded a non-stop Alaskan Airlines flight to Seattle. It took 4 hours to fly Dallas to Seattle. It took the better part of an hour to get off the plane, navigate out of the satellite terminal and ride the shuttle bus to the car rental agency. I picked up my reserved rental car and headed south 41 miles to Tumwater (the drive took 2 hours) where my sister had supper and my parents waiting for me. Family matters managed in Tumwater and also points north on our Pilchuck Creek homestead and a layover with family in Anacortes and La Connor.
The wife would be otherwise engaged when I returned, so I was told to find a way home without her.
Mischief managed, I drove back to Sea-Tac Airport and turned in my rental car. Thus a 41 mile first leg of my return journey using an automobile. I arrived in plenty of time to wait comfortably to fly on the airplane. Once airborne, I had a window seat and could watch 10,000 feet below for landmarks to let me know where in the USA I was. Mt. Rainer was easy to spot, Mt. St. Helens was another easy ID, and with Mt. Hood in the distance I could see we were flying toward the Columbia River. We crossed the Columbia in Eastern Washington and I could see the basaltic landscape of Southern Idaho. It was a thrill to fly directly over the distinctively upturned Mesozoic beds cut by the Green River in the eastern reaches of Dinosaur National Monument. I could have put a pinpoint right in the spot where we camped as newlyweds back in 1986 where those tilted rock formations were breached by the river. I could spot the Great Salt Lake to the south and then we cut across the northern Rockies and headed down the eastern slope where I could set the volcanic crater of Capulin Volcano National Monument in northern New Mexico. The plane banked and we flew over Amarillo and began our approach to Dallas. All of these landmarks I knew well from the vantage threw my windshield over my years of roadtrip travels.
One on the ground in Dallas, I climbed the stairs in Terminal E to catch the Skyway Tram on the upper level and ride it to Terminal A. Disembarking from the Skyway Tram, which was a new experience for me, I went hiking in search of the DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) Train station. I bought a $5 fare and waited a few minutes when the arriving Orange Line opened its doors and I took a seat, one of five to board DART at that hour. Tens of thousands of people a day come to DFW, but I'd guess only a score or two come on the DART Train. The Orange Line pulled out of the station and wound its way to downtown Dallas, where I transferred to the Blue Line which was bound for downtown Garland. The DART train ride from airport to hometown was 1:55. By car it would have been around 45 minutes.
So far today's journey has been in a (rental) automobile, a plane, an electric tram, and a commuter train. Once I got off the DART train at the Garland stop, it was another 2.6 miles to home. Some of the day's mode's of transportation were either new or arguably exotic, but for the final leg, it was sole power, something I've been doing most of my life. With my minimal luggage strapped to my back, I walked off into the sultry Texas night, covering the final leg of my route in 51 minutes.
Planes, Trains, Trams and Automobiles and some old fashion hoofing it.
As always, Enjoy The Journey - which ever way you choose to take it.
I, like most Americans, rely heavily on my private automobile to get me almost everywhere of importance. Now, I love the independence of putting the keys in the ignition and pulling on to the open road, I can get about anywhere that I want to be. Getting behind the wheel is a great feeling (only better if not everybody else was doing the same thing and putting their traffic on my roads).
I know there are other ways to get to Point B; slower, more expensive and less convenient, never-the-less, there are ways. I have discover yet another way myself, my discovery was purposeful and planned, it was slower, less convenient (but one always pays for convenience you gotta know), and cheaper. I had family business to attend to in NW Washington in early June. I was dropped off at DFW Airport where I boarded a non-stop Alaskan Airlines flight to Seattle. It took 4 hours to fly Dallas to Seattle. It took the better part of an hour to get off the plane, navigate out of the satellite terminal and ride the shuttle bus to the car rental agency. I picked up my reserved rental car and headed south 41 miles to Tumwater (the drive took 2 hours) where my sister had supper and my parents waiting for me. Family matters managed in Tumwater and also points north on our Pilchuck Creek homestead and a layover with family in Anacortes and La Connor.
The wife would be otherwise engaged when I returned, so I was told to find a way home without her.
Mischief managed, I drove back to Sea-Tac Airport and turned in my rental car. Thus a 41 mile first leg of my return journey using an automobile. I arrived in plenty of time to wait comfortably to fly on the airplane. Once airborne, I had a window seat and could watch 10,000 feet below for landmarks to let me know where in the USA I was. Mt. Rainer was easy to spot, Mt. St. Helens was another easy ID, and with Mt. Hood in the distance I could see we were flying toward the Columbia River. We crossed the Columbia in Eastern Washington and I could see the basaltic landscape of Southern Idaho. It was a thrill to fly directly over the distinctively upturned Mesozoic beds cut by the Green River in the eastern reaches of Dinosaur National Monument. I could have put a pinpoint right in the spot where we camped as newlyweds back in 1986 where those tilted rock formations were breached by the river. I could spot the Great Salt Lake to the south and then we cut across the northern Rockies and headed down the eastern slope where I could set the volcanic crater of Capulin Volcano National Monument in northern New Mexico. The plane banked and we flew over Amarillo and began our approach to Dallas. All of these landmarks I knew well from the vantage threw my windshield over my years of roadtrip travels.
One on the ground in Dallas, I climbed the stairs in Terminal E to catch the Skyway Tram on the upper level and ride it to Terminal A. Disembarking from the Skyway Tram, which was a new experience for me, I went hiking in search of the DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) Train station. I bought a $5 fare and waited a few minutes when the arriving Orange Line opened its doors and I took a seat, one of five to board DART at that hour. Tens of thousands of people a day come to DFW, but I'd guess only a score or two come on the DART Train. The Orange Line pulled out of the station and wound its way to downtown Dallas, where I transferred to the Blue Line which was bound for downtown Garland. The DART train ride from airport to hometown was 1:55. By car it would have been around 45 minutes.
So far today's journey has been in a (rental) automobile, a plane, an electric tram, and a commuter train. Once I got off the DART train at the Garland stop, it was another 2.6 miles to home. Some of the day's mode's of transportation were either new or arguably exotic, but for the final leg, it was sole power, something I've been doing most of my life. With my minimal luggage strapped to my back, I walked off into the sultry Texas night, covering the final leg of my route in 51 minutes.
Planes, Trains, Trams and Automobiles and some old fashion hoofing it.
As always, Enjoy The Journey - which ever way you choose to take it.
