Should I pay $500 for a later flight?

Hi, all! I’ll be visiting Olympic National Park from Los Angeles. The direct flight is just under three hours, and my current return flight is at 1:53 p.m.

I managed to get a last-minute booking at Lake Crescent, but it’s about a 3.5-hour drive from there to the airport. That means we’d need to leave around 6:30 a.m. to get to the airport by noon, return the rental car, and make our 1:53 flight. It feels like we’d basically have to wake up and immediately start driving to the airport, which sounds pretty miserable.

My other options are either paying about $500 more for a 6:30 p.m. flight or extending the trip by another day so everything feels more relaxed.

The planning got disrupted because I unexpectedly found a last-minute log cabin at Lake Crescent instead of staying in Port Angeles. I feel like staying at Lake Crescent would make the overall experience much nicer for all of us, but I’m not sure if it’s worth the extra cost and logistical headache.

What do you think—is it worth paying the extra $500 for the later flight, or should I just suck it up and do the 3.5-hour drive to the airport early that morning?