Once we landed in Alaska, I went ahead of Matt to the Budget Car Rental and he went to get our suitcase from baggage claim. While I was waiting for my turn at the counter, I looked out the window. Even though it was 11:00 PM, it was still light outside. This didn't make sense to my brain. You could have tipped me over with a feather because I was so tired.

The rental cars in Alaska are expensive. Our two day rental ($192.03) exceeded the total for three days in Washington State. We ended up driving away from the airport in a Chrysler 300. According to the GPS, the Sheraton was only 17 minutes away, but we ended up getting lost and it taking us 25.

By the time we got to the counter, we'd been awake for almost 20 hours. I gave the desk clerk my name and pulled out my phone so I could show her the confirmation number for our reservation. I was very surprised when she told me that they didn't have any King beds left.  What? How is that possible? You just sold it to me 5 HOURS ago! She went on to inform me that they had upgraded us to a room with a view. A VIEW? I am going to be sleeping. I didn't want a room with a view. I wanted a room with a king sized bed.

At this point, I am entirely too exhausted to think straight. I took the keys from her and went up stairs. Our room came with two full beds and a view of some water. I promptly shut the curtains. Matt got in the shower and I went to see if I could find some bottled water.

Just down the hall from our room, I saw something on the ground. As I got closer, I realized it was some used coffee grounds and a filter. It seemed a little ghetto, but I doubt that hotels have hall monitors. So, I didn't make much of this.

On my search to find vending machines, I found the ice machine, but there were no vending machines. I went back to the lobby and was directed to an area behind the front desk where I found a somewhat limited supply of sundry items and bottled of water for $5.00.  Seriously???? Dansani water is my favorite, but it's not worth $5.00 a bottle!

When I went back upstairs, the coffee filter was still on the ground.  I went into our room to look for an ice bucket, but we didn't have one.  I took the little plastic cups to get ice and told Matt that we'd be drinking tap water.  There was no way in hell I was going to pay $5.00 for a bottle of water. By the way, the tap water was just fine!

After a quick shower, I crawled into bed next to Matt.  He was asleep in a matter of minutes, but it took me awhile.  I managed to hit my elbow on the nightstand twice. Ugh. I debated about moving to the other bed, but I eventually fell asleep.

At around 4:30 AM, I started receiving text messages from my son and his girl friend. I sent them back messages and asked them to leave me alone. I got up and used the bathroom and tried to get back to sleep. At 5:44 AM, I got a call from a Virginia telephone number regarding a family emergency. I spent the next hour making phone calls and sending text messages. 

When I finally went back to bed, it was almost 7:00 AM. I got into bed next to Matt and promptly hit my elbow on the night stand. I gave up and moved over to the second bed. Even though I was exhausted, I had a very hard time going to sleep.