The plane left Seattle just a little late, but the pilots were motivated to get to their destination:

“Thank you for choosing Alaskan Airlines. Skies are clear, and we do anticipate an early arrival in Anchorage today, landing at 2:15 am. Remember, there is an hour difference. Enjoy your flight!”

Good news, because the big worry so far was that the rental car desk closed at 2:30 am and accoring to the schedule we landed at 2:30 am. But we might get there early!

When the plane taxied in, I woke up from a nice nap (thank you Tylenol PM). Chris prepared to sprint through the airport to secure our vehicle.

We disembarked, and Chris said over his shoulder “Meet me at the car rental counter!” as he sped off.

I followed him at a slower pace. I passed a Mooselaneous store (gag), and the other usual vending establishments. Halfway out, I found a site of interest.

Now Chris had always been most concerned with the car, but my priority had always been getting a place to sleep. Our original plan of toughing it out for the first night had seemed like a bad idea.

In front of me, past the TSA security checkpoint, was a very smart business idea. They were selling little room with attached bathrooms to catch a couple hours of sleep. They charged by the hour–buy three hours, get the fourth free.

This was the perfect solution to our problem! just a couple hours to rest. That was all we needed. Chris didn’t want to pay for a full hotel room when we could only be there a couple hours! But this was a reasonable price. We could do this! They even had a room for two.

Except. Chris was already past security. We couldn’t do it, because he had run ahead to get the car.

Maybe we didn’t need to rest. I was feeling pretty good. I’d had a nice rest on the plane. Maybe it would be okay.