And it turned out to be easy to get on the freeways, as traffic is so much lighter, and got to Hwy. 217 to 26 to I-405 and I-5 up to Vancouver. Vancouver, BC, of course, no, of course not, Vancouver, WA. (I'm not set up for a road trip or any sort of visit to Canada at the moment. No passport, for one.) I went to the west shore of Vancouver Lake, a large lake between the city on the east and the Columbia River to the west. I sat for a bit, breathing different air and seeing different scenery.
I didn't get pictures of the rest of the trip, but after that, inspired by watching a plane come in for a landing at PDX, I then drove to PDX for the first time since the furlough. I visited the future, WE HOPE, valet parking lot, which at least has its fence up — that wasn't quite finished when I was furloughed — and the booth and the car-wash tent. I saw that the MAX station, as planned, is briefly closed so the old Concourse A can be torn down; the MAX trains stop at Mt. Hood Avenue one stop away from the terminal for now, with shuttle buses to bridge the gap; the tracks just west of NE 82nd can be used as parking for other trains. And yes, the airport's far less busy now. I've been going to this airport literally my entire life (I first flew out of it at three weeks old, at the end of November 1973!) and I've never seen it like this.
I've been mainly a homebody since then, though I plan another, probably shorter, road trip Friday.
