Taking the Long Way Home

Warning: Whining Ahead

Let me just say in case I have not before that I HATE my commute. Everyone who knows me knows this very clearly.

I live in Tacoma but work in Redmond which means that I have a few hundred different options for how I can get to and come home from work. I have been working in Redmond now for 10 months this week which means that I have pretty much tried them all.

The most direct route to get to work would be via freeways. I-5 to I-405 to 520. The total distance isn't horrible under ideal conditions but unfortunately traffic is just a killer on each of those roads and taking those routes generally takes me 1.5 -2 hrs each way which makes me insane.

These three freeways are three of the primary traffic arteries through the Seattle-metro area. Usually 9+ hours a day at work plus 3+ hours on the road makes me unhappy to say the least.

Thankfully I have a wife that understands my pain and indulges me somewhat. I take every possible odd way home from work that can be had. My theory is that I don't mind driving much further to get home from work as long as I can keep moving. 2 hours moving on a country road at 30 miles an hour beats the heck out of 2 hours of stop-and-go traffic on a direct route.

For example, on my way home from work yesterday, I was way-the-heck off of the normal roads again but was able to stop off to watch Snoqualmie Falls for a bit and snap the picture below. That breathtaking view is one way to keep your mind off traffic and agan makes you thankful to live in the great Pacific Northwest.


Geocaching has also been a tremendous help. I just found my 2,000th cache a few days ago and no small number of these was found while visiting every earthly backroad on my various commutes. I've visited litteraly hundreds of different parks, trails and mountain paths on my various drives. That is kind of my way of turning lemons into lemonade.

-Jeff