How Do I Get to the Meeting?

When Should I Get There?

The meeting is held each year from a Friday evening to a Sunday morning, typically the first weekend of March (although it is sometimes bumped forward or backward by up to two weeks). The usual course of events at the meetings are:

· On Friday evenings we gather from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm for the keynote address, then have a short reception with beer and pretzels and head down to the dining room for dinner.

· Saturday morning we have breakfast at about 8 am, then start the talks at 9 am. We'll break for about an hour and a half lunch. Talks generally last until mid-afternoon, then we adjourn for a couple hours of rest, relaxation, or adventure (the choice is yours).

· Saturday evening we meet again at about 5:00 for a reception, followed by dinner and the famed Milosian Banquet (at which black tie is optional).

· On Sunday mornings we wake for breakfast, then head to the ferry.

Travel to and from the meeting must be organized around the ferry schedule, which changes from season to season, so be sure that the schedule you are viewing is for the appropriate time. You can see the schedule by clicking here. You will be taking the ferry westward from Anacortes to Friday Harbor, and there are only a few each day. Generally there is a mid-afternoon ferry (about 2:30 pm). It is a one hour ride, so you need to leave Anacortes no later than 3:30 pm to get there in time for the start of the meeting.

Once you have determined the ferry you want to take, work backwards from there to figure out your plane reservations. It is about a two-hour drive from Sea-Tac airport to Anacortes, so you will want to make sure that you arrive in Sea-Tac no later than noon on Friday in order to make the 2:30 ferry (and that will be cutting it pretty close). On the way home, you will not be able to get to Sea-Tac any sooner than noon on Sunday.

In short, book your flight so that you arrive at Sea-Tac no later than noon on Friday and leave no earlier than noon on Sunday.

If you do not have a ride lined up, you’ll have to rent a car at Sea-Tac or take a shuttle from Sea-Tac to Anacortes. The shuttle is slower (but cheaper). For information about the airport shuttle, click here.

There is one more option for getting from Sea-Tac to Friday Harbor: float plane. It is less expensive than you might think. For information about flights from the Seattle area (be sure you know where you are leaving from – there are three different options), click here.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me at largent@msu.edu - this all sounds a little complicated, but really it is not difficult to get to Friday Harbor and once there you will quickly understand why we so cherish the location for our annual meeting.