View across the highway from the Time Wise parking lot. If you're into outlet mall shopping you might stop at the second North Bend exit; otherwise, it's a clear shot from here to Seattle.

Be alert: many Seattle drivers love to zip from lane to lane, frequently passing on the right.

Try to plan your trip to arrive before 4:30 PM if possible and avoid Seattle's horrendous rush hour. As you descend from the mountains you'll go by Issaquah, now Washington's fastest-growing community, with traffic to match; but the westbound traffic in the afternoon doesn't usually get clogged until Mercer Island. The "tunnel" here is actually a bridge and park-covered highway "lid" meant to spare the island inhabitants from highway noise.

There's a brief stretch where vehicles with two or more occupants can zip by the slowdowns, but a few miles down the road you have to merge, and being stuck in the leftmost continuing lane is very slow while the merging is going on. Fortunately, most of the commuter traffic is headed in the opposite direction, east.

The approach to Seattle itself is across the Lake Washington floating bridge, so if you're stuck in traffic, relax and enjoy the view. At the other end, you'll be going through a real tunnel.