Anchorage to Seattle

It was still dark when I got up – I have got used to it now – and it had gone 9:00. No matter, I have plenty of time and I am packed & ready to go.

I put a gallon of gas in the Grunt Monster to ensure I got it back to the airport – it was helpfully flashing a sign at me saying “Low Fuel” – as I was more concerned with how I would transport my luggage than anything else.

I dropped the car off and went in search of my check-in desk. This turned out to be in the South Terminal, so I got the shuttle bus and found the check-in desk.

Bags dropped off and boarding pass secured I cleared security and got something to eat. Sat and read my book for a while and then the flight was called.

As it was free I decided to watch the in-flight movie: The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. If anyone went to the cinema and paid money (any amount) to see this – you were had! It was a typical no-brain-required ridiculous film and helped pass the time on an aircraft when it was dark outside. By the time it was over I had enough time for a quick doze before we landed in Seattle.

It was much warmer here. Everyone else seemed to be huddled in big coats whilst I was undoing mine. I got the bus into town; a twenty minute journey costing $1.25. As it was dark when I got off the bus I didn’t have any idea which direction I should be heading in, but I knew the hostel was close. I asked a guy in the street where Pike Street was and he duly gave me directions. Thirty seconds later he was chasing me down the street to tell me it was two blocks over and not one – sorry. I thanked him very much for bothering to let me know and the amended direction brought me right out opposite the hostel.

Having checked in and dumped all my stuff I grabbed a coffee and headed down to the smoking room. Yes, they have a smoking room here – yippee. One can go outside if one wishes but it is much more civilised to sit and chat to people in the warm whilst killing yourself.

I had intended to get an early night but this fell by the wayside when I entered the smoking room. There were three guys sitting around playing acoustic guitars and a bunch of other people sitting around listening, so I joined them. Another guy – Andy from Melbourne – came in with his guitar and then there were four. Another group of people came in containing Ivan and Charlie from Southampton – they were laden with the equivalent of a crate of beer and proceeded to distribute it amongst the masses. So I sat there drinking some beers and chatting to people around me. After a few beers we got into a sing-song going through some Oasis & Beatles numbers. We all got warned about the noise at one point so we kept quiet for a while. The final handful of straw was added to the camel’s back when we got into a very spirited and loud rendition of Tom Petty’s Freefalling and then the guy from the front desk came in and threw us all out of the smoking room as he could hear us out at the front desk. Party broke up about 1:30 so I thought it must be time for bed. It was great fun though and we all had a great laugh. The combination of four acoustic guitars (until a string broke on one of them) was really powerful so we had to sing loudly to be heard! There were handshakes & smiles all round as people began to drift off to their rooms.

I crept into my room very quietly and didn’t disturb anyone judging by the level of snoring, which remained unchanged.
I slept very soundly.