A pretty big snowstorm hit Kansas today. First experience taking the G5 through the "white and drifted snow". AI made it a breeze. Had my tires still set to 39/38 for hypermilin' (I don't recommend doing that lol). It had rained a bit prior to the heavy snow so it was a legit challenge. I was passing people, lights were flashin' as the traction control did its thing. AWD who? The LE was up to the challenge. Best snow driving experience in a 2WD car ever.
Also, I idled at the airport for 1.5 hrs with the front/rear defrost and wiper thaw thingy running pretty much all the time. ICE fired up about every 10/15 mins. Then I drove for about 1.5 hrs through fairly heavy snow covered roads. Pulled back in the garage with just a tick under 40 MPG's. Uuuumazing.
They’ll let you wait 1.5 hour? Our wonderful YVR, you sit more than 5 minutes when picking someone up, there’s a reflective vest attendant on your case; it’s really absurd. We usually wait just up the road, at the “the Tim Hortons at the end of the Universe”.
People even park 2 deep against the curb. It's Kansas... we're lucky we have cars and don't have to ride horses. There are plenty of sides that warn about loading/unloading only and being towed. Everybody ignores. Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport - ICT
That is one of the differences between an airport handling 5,000 passengers per day (ICT), vs. 80,000+ per day (YVR). A few days ago, I came home through SeaTac (SEA), which averaged over 160,000 per day this summer, and one day hit 198,000. For expediency, we've had Uber drivers drop us off not at the proper Departures deck, but instead at Arrivals or even a taxi zone across the way in the main parking garage. Where-ever the congestion of the moment is the least. On return this time, we skipped those completely and took the ever-expanding Light Rail out of there, switching to other transport farther away.
Last time we picked someone up (at YVR) we arranged to meet them at departures, much saner vibe there. And did the Tim Hortons ploy as well.
I see that YVR, like SEA, has a nearby 'cell phone wait lot', where drivers waiting to pick up arrivals can park and wait for them to call, instead of continuously circulating through the pickup zones and adding to the serious congestion. I used the SeaTac lot a couple times long ago, waiting for the spouse to arrive. But, no Tim Hortons or equivalent. https://www.yvr.ca/en/passengers/parking-yvr/cell-phone-waiting-area Picking up someone at YVR Airport? Use the free Cell Phone Waiting Area | Urbanized SEA Airport Cell Phone Lot | Port of Seattle Cell Phone Lot Access and Air Cargo Road Safety Improvements | Port of Seattle We've used YVR for overseas travel a very few times when the fare differences were compelling, enough to cover the extra drive time and nearby long term parking costs.
Yeah we tried that once; it was a bit awkward, required “buying” a free ticket, had a 30 minute time limit, and maybe I’m challenged but had a hell of a time finding the exit, when the time was running down. Perhaps most telling: there was no one else there.
The SeaTac lot didn't have any of those impairments the very few times I used it, but that was long ago and things have had time to change since.
