9:20 a.m. [Click on sketches to view larger]

Taking public transportation to go cover a transportation event is one of my favorite things to do. After my usual commute from Snohomish County to downtown Seattle by bus, I took light rail to Tukwila this morning to join other Seattle media taking a preview ride to the new Airport Link station. It opens Saturday.

"We are finally no longer the train to nowhere," said Sound Transit spokesman Bruce Gray, who is looking forward to riding light rail to catch a flight to Phoenix soon.

The new station stands high above the ground. I was hoping to jot down a sketch of Mount Rainier from the platform, but it was covered with clouds. Next time.

After a flight of stairs down, a skywalk connects with the parking garage structure, where a wide path along the side of the building leads to the existing skywalks to the terminal. It seemed a bit odd to walk through the garage, but it's a short way. Barbara Luecke, who manages the public art along the stations, said there are plans for a sculpture along the pathway.

Now that light rail has arrived to the airport, the countdown to the University Link starts. It's scheduled to open in 2016. Gray said the construction walls will be going up in Capitol Hill in January and the tunneling machines will be arriving sometime in 2011.

I look forward to continue sketching light rail all the way to my neck of the woods.