I just experienced what may have been my most horrendous driving experience of my entire life.
We were traveling from our home in Yakima, to a family member’s wedding near Lynden, Washington. It was a Friday afternoon drive. I mapped out our trip for the shortest distance on the best freeways.
Online mapping suggested just over 4 hours for the trip. We left at 1:00 p.m. and the wedding was to start at 7:00.
I admit poor planning. The 2 hours to drive the 135 miles to the beginning of the metropolitan area and the point were we exit I-90 and head north on I-405, and awhile later on I-5, would put us in the heaviest traffic at the beginning of Friday afternoon rush hour.
Still, I had no idea what we were about to encounter.
After the 135 miles in 2 hours I just mentioned (which included a brief stop in North Bend), we endured stop and go traffic for the next 45 miles through about Marysville (which included a brief stop every 50 feet).
Suddenly, the 3 hour time cushion we had left for ourselves seemed rather insignificant.
We made it to the Lynden area with just enough time to hurriedly register at our reserved condo and change into our wedding duds. We arrived at the church about 10 minutes late. Fortunately, this wedding was typical to most I’ve been to and started a little late. We arrived just as the groom was greeting the guests from the front of the church.
My cousin’s wedding was lovely. It was very relaxing to sit quietly in the back pew of the church listening to encouraging words and soft music. That was just what the doctor ordered after after our miserable experience driving up the I-5 corridor.
My recommendation – avoid metro area freeways during rush hour.
