Because we had a fairly early flight out of Seattle on Saturday and it was supposed to be rainy we thought it might be less hassle if we returned the rental car on Friday night and spend a night in a hotel near the airport that had shuttle service.
To keep from having to schlep our 50 lb. suitcase from the rental car center to the airport and then to the hotel, we checked into a room at the Fairfield Inn before returning the car. This was a great idea, we dropped the car off and grabbed one of the always waiting shuttle buses to the airport. From the terminal we opted to just walk to the hotel instead of waiting for the hotel shuttle which you have to call for and then it will come get you.
The walk was about 1-3/4 miles, we had done the same walk a week before when we arrived, that time dragging the big ol’ suitcase, so this time it would be a lot easier. We felt like we were Seattle natives, walking in the cool light rain. About a quarter mile from the hotel I realized I still had the key fobs for the rental car in my pocket!
The Nissan Altima we had rented had the now ubiquitous push to start feature and because the Purple Whale has a fob, I guess I was used that weight in my left front pocket. The thing of it was, as we were pulling into rental car center I thought to myself, “Remember to give up the keys.” But somehow with the returning of the GPS and getting the receipt, that thought drifted away.
We turned back around to walk the mile and a half back to the terminal, hop on the rental car center shuttle buss to return the keys to the folks at the National counter. Back outside to board the shuttle back to the terminal. This time we called the hotel and waited patiently for their shuttle.