I took the Mercer Street exit off I-5 to visit the King Tut exhibit at the Seattle Center. Although already mid-morning on a Monday, the traffic slowed to a predictable downtown crawl.

No worries, I had all the time in the world, and enjoyed observing the changes along the once-familiar route toward the Space Needle. I’m a Seattleite by birth, and occasionally my high school friends and I hung out by the International Fountain.

On this beautifully sunny day, I caught up to a Prius in the lane ahead of me, and burst out laughing. Not because it was a Prius, as Seattle is long-known for being environmentally conscious, but for the culturally classic sci-fi messages on the bumper stickers, window decals. personalized license plate, and license plate holder itself.

On the left was the logo for “Serenity,” a now-defunct series starring Nathan Fillion (of “Castle” fame). On the far right window corner was a Robby the Robot decal. Below and more center was the entire space-suited cast of “Ghost Busters.”

The license plate read “Gort,” which was the humanoid robot in 1951 classic “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” The plate holder said, “Klaatu Barada Nikto!” which was the command given to Gort to save our planet.

I laughed and thought “only in Seattle,” realizing that Paul Allen’s fabulous Science Fiction Museum was located just a half-mile away. I estimated that woman driving was older than I—probably in her mid-60s—and I hoped she worked at the museum.

But whether she did or not, what fabulous statement her car makes for signs of our times! Here’s to enjoying the quirks and whimsies of the great Pacific Northwest, “Na-no, Na-no” and “Shaz-bot” to us all!