[Lotus99]

Hey all, this past weekend we went down to the Great Wolf Lodge, an hour south of Seattle, with the kids, and had a blast. I thought Monday was a holiday for you folks as well, but we ran into a ton of traffic around Seattle and north up to Everett.

On Monday coming back home (Vancouver, BC) around 4 PM, the traffic was a total mess... I took the Express lanes on the left side at first, though at times it seemed like the regular lanes (before splitting off) were actually going faster?! Are they generally the best way to go?

And then I stayed in the HOV lane up to Everett, but the GPS was telling me it's faster to get off I-5, and take some road to the west of Everett, all the way north of it, than back onto I-5. I think it was the 525 at first. I ignored it, thinking it can't be faster to go thru the town or is it?

Any tips for next time? Are Sundays that bad too normally?

Thanks for any help from the locals!