On the road again: Seattle, day 5

Tip 1 for traveling to Seattle: Don’t rent from Dollar. I’d never heard this bit of advice, and to save money we routinely rent from Dollar, so that’s what we did this trip. Dollar, as it turns out, is the one major car rental company that doesn’t let you return cars to the SeaTac airport. (I think it may also be the only one that doesn’t let you pick them up there, but I’m less sure of this claim.) So, we followed the rental car return signs through the airport, to the garage, through the garage, and back out of the airport again. Fortunately, the guard at the exit gate took pity on us and told us how to find the Dollar return lot; I got the impression we’re not the only people to make this mistake.

Coming home from the West Coast is always an exercise in moving that consumes almost the entire day: get up early, shower, pack the dop kit, check out, drive to airport and rental car return, (today) drive again to real rental car return, ride shuttle to airport, walk to check-in, check in, walk to security, go through security, walk to gate, wait, get on plane, and so on and on and on. It’s hard to do much productive, which as you might imagine I find frustrating, but I work as much as the situation allows and read the rest of the time.

By the way, Wi-Fi at SeaTac, at least in the American Airlines end of the airport, sucks. I was able to connect to AT&T’s Wi-Fi service, the only option available, just long enough for AT&T to take my $7.99, and then the connection failed. I could never synchronize my email. Very frustrating.

After three lovely and formal dinners in Seattle, tonight’s repast was something a bit different: a Chicago dog from a strange little man with almost no English and a determination to pile everything possible onto the dog. Fortunately, I love hot dogs, so it was a fine meal.

Now, though, I’m back, and glad to be here. Any trip home that ends with me home safely is definitionally a successful one.