First off, you have to know that living at Joint Base Lewis-McChord 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 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.

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.