First off, you have to know that living at JBLM is going to require leaving the Evergreen Post from time to time. There's a lot to do, see and just experience. But there are some drawbacks to venturing into the world of civilian life. Traffic is among them; sometimes it tops the list. OK, most times it tops the list.

Unlike cities on the east coast with a tight web of roads and turnpikes, highways and state routes, we pretty much have only one way to get pretty much anywhere you want to visit. We locals call it Interstate 5, the largest parking lot in the world. Commutes can take an hour to drive just a few miles during rush hour, generally about 7 to 9 a.m. and then again between 4 to 6 p.m. as those suburbanite home dwellers drive one to a car to and fro.

Pierce County is not what you would call a mass transit friendly sort of place either. Heck, the area didn't have a bus system at all until the 1970s. We drive. We wait. And we plot our strategies to get to our home base in much the same way a general would plan a search and destroy mission - get in, get out and avoid contact with others.

That planning sometimes means taking alternate routes, what few we have around here, so here is a primer on all you need to know before you leave the comforts of your post housing for the asphalt jungle that sits just outside the gate.

First, Washington State Department of Transportation has Web cams all over the place to give you up-to-the-minute traffic reports either through streaming video or through a constant parade of still photos.

The map of camera positions can be found at: www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/tacoma. Free downloads at the site are also available for wireless devices so you can even check traffic from your car if you find yourself stuck in traffic and in search of another route. A message system is available by phone by calling (206) DOT-HIWY. These video cameras, updates and messages are key components in our ability to survive traffic in this rapidly growing metropolitan area.

The Traffic Systems Management Center operates a dial-up phone service at (206) 368-4499. The service provides traffic conditions and construction information and is available 24 hours a day. To help alleviate traffic congestion, WSDOT operates the "freeway entrance lights" called ramp meters. The main purpose for the data collection is to operate an efficient ramp metering system. Things like the Internet Traffic Page and other traveler information services are actually a secondary benefit of the ramp metering system.

But all of this hardware and software isn't enough, and shortcuts are the only way to avoid the gridlock of I-5.

Local traffic around Lakewood streets can back up quickly because the lights are so close together, despite the strip malls having their own set of roadways to get onto the main arterial streets.

Steilacoom Boulevard that links South Tacoma Way and Steilacoom is just one such road. Avoid it during run times. An easier way to get from post to Fort Steilacoom Park, for example, would be to take the Gravelly Lake Drive route that jogs through Lake City. Taking Washington Boulevard off Gravelly would take you right past Lake City Perk, a drive-up or sit-down coffeehouse that is a favorite of the Lake City fire station firefighters.

For a drink a bit stiffer, you can always take Veterans Drive instead of Washington and make a stop at the Lake City Tavern, a tavern that has been in operation in one form or another since Prohibition. It's a great place for a quick drink and a review of the map before venturing onward. Veterans Drive ends at the American Lake Veterans Hospital, so you'll have to take a right to get back onto Washington as you head to Steilacoom or west Lakewood. But it's a good detour to make.

There is only one way to get from post to Olympia, and that is I-5. There are no shortcuts or side roads, but weary travelers can stop at the truck stop overlooking the Nisqually Delta National Wildlife Preserve for a burger or some jerky.

Travelers heading north from post have a few options to I-5, but not many.

The big one is South Tacoma Way. That road avoids the snarls around the Tacoma Mall and the Narrows Bridge backup traffic along State Route 16, but it also has a lot of lights. A good thing about this route is that it has a host of places to pull over for a burger or a beer or a hooker or dead baby or a blanket with a tiger on it or drugs or a used car with no money down and bad credit. Few could ask for a more scenic drive.

A shortcut once you are stuck on northbound I-5 is to get off at the Silver Dollar Casino for a few rounds of blackjack to let the traffic die down or follow Hosmer to 72nd and then take Pacific Avenue into Tacoma, where you can rejoin I-5 drivers.