Well, that was fun.

Lin's Mom decided to take Lin & Kermit to Hawaii.

For various reasons, it was decided that they'd fly out of PDX. So that left the question of what to do about transportation to/from the airport.

Long term parking is *expensive*. Car rental turned out to be not any cheaper.

And thus a deal was born. I checked and confirmed that if I was using it, I could park their van in the apartment parking lot. So, I get the use of their van while they are in Hawaii, and some gas money. They get someone to keep an eye on the van.

Initial plans were that they'd arrive here in plenty of time, and we'd park it here and they'd take the bus and Max to the airport (only one transfer and *really* straightforward).

Alas, when I IMed Lin this morning to let her know I was awake and heading for the shower, I got an IM back saying that they were running late and would be here 60-90 minutes later than planned.

So I suggested a plan B. I'd ride with them to the airport and drive the van back. They decided on plan C when they got here. I'd drive to the airport so Kermit could coach me on the idiosyncrasies of the van.

Probably just as well. While it only takes me a short while to get used to a car (as used to them as I can with my limited practice) it would have been a *really* bad idea to do that at the airport.

Even so "refreshing" my driving skills was "interesting".

One annoyance was having Lin yelling at me to stop for a train when I had plenty of room. I did a nice gentle, unjerky stop and was just fine.

After dropping them off, I got stuck for 15 minutes behind some idjit from California who was ignoring the "no parking or waiting" signs.

I'd pulled in behind him so folks could get out and unload their luggage, and there wasn't enough room to get out (well not with my current level of practice with the van.

Finally someone left enough of a gap when they pulled in behind me that I could get the van backed up enough to get out,

After that it was just a minor case of nerves on the drive home.