We will be arriving via Amtrak to Everett around 9 in the morning. We need to pick up a rental car at Paine Field and drive to catch the 2 p.m. ferry at Anacortes. What kind of drive time at 10 a.m. will we have to Anacortes and will this be enough time to get there?

Drive time from Everett to Mt. Vernon (directly east of Anacortes) probably less than an hour. Traffic from Everett north at 10 in the morning won't be a problem (of course, if there is an accident or something like that, I could be wrong). Mt. Vernon west to Anacortes can't be more than 20 minutes. You should be fine.

I live in Mount Vernon, work in Anacortes, and have relatives in Everett. Amtrak is almost always late first off. Also keep in mind that it may take some time when you go to get your rental car. Another thing is that traffic is TERRIBLE in Everett. I sometimes think worse than in Seattle. I don't think it will be too bad that early, but you are going to Paine Field you have more of a drive (actually I thought Paine Field was closer to Lynnwood rather than Everett-we go to the movie drive-in there and it is considered Lynnwood). So if that is the case, it is further out than Everett, or at least you have more to drive than if you were arriving in downtown Everett area. I would give yourself about 45min to an hour to get to Mount Vernon (if there is an accident, or you hit traffic it will be more of course). From here it is 20 min to arrive in Anacortes. To get to the San Juan Ferry terminal it takes another good 10 min. or more because of all the lights. You really need to be there early too at the ferry. There is a Amtrak stop here in Mount Vernon. It may be easier to stop here instead...but if you don't, I think you will be fine. Just don't waste time just in case.

Assuming your train is on time (not a certainty) the cab from the Amtrak station to Paine Field (curious, that - there are plenty of rental car agencies much closer to central Everett) will take roughly 15 minutes, then 5 or 10 back to I-5, then 35 min. to the SR20 interchange, then 30 to the ferry, total elapsed time 90 min. plus haggle time at the car agency. I drive from the Paine Field area to Mt. Vernon often at around 10AM and traffic won't be an issue. The biggest challenge will be what to do in Anacortes for 3+ hours. If you're peckish en route, stop in downtown Marysville for great baked things at the Dutch bakery, then back on the freeway and onward.

Thanks for the help. We did change our car rental to Enterprise at 4532 Evergreen Way, Everett. This seems a better location. The reason we were at the Hertz at Paine Field is because Amtrak referred us to Hertz as they have an agreement.