Second Jedediah Smith Trail 1824 — 1826

Day 1: August 22nd, 2010 Munich — Pittsburgh

This years was even more chaos than the other years. Because of my accident, I have lost so much preparation time that it was almost impossible to catch up on everything. Then I had to buy a new car, deal with attorney letters and beside all of this I had to prepare my journey.

At half past one in the morning, I was eventually able to go to bed on Sunday. The idiot living above me decided to have a party from 6—9 in the morning. But my ear plugs solved this problem short–term. Anyways, I have slept really bad, probably due to all the stress. Maybe I should have taken another anodyne. Well, now I must deal with the situation as it is.

Lucky me, my plane departs way later as usually. The last check–in is at three in the afternoon. If we leave here around noon, we have plenty of time left. This time I even have the time to do dishes! At half past eleven, my parents arrive and we discuss everything what may be important to know. Especially the situation with my attorney, because I don’t know, if he will need further information. Hopefully, the insurance will pay soon that my financial situation gets more relaxed again.

Just before noon we are ready to roll. In the moment when I want to turn off my German mobile phones, another text message from my dance friends arrive. Once again I receive best wishes for my vacation from everyone. It’s great to not be forgotten, even when I wasn’t there for quite a while.

At noon we hit the road. There is a bit more traffic on the roads. Nevertheless, we make good miles. Already at a quarter to one, we arrive at the airport. There are even a lot of parking spots available. Most people circle around to catch one of the free spots. But we happily pay a couple of Euros.

Now it’s time to search around for check–in. This year, there are no more counters for checking in. Only the Self–Check–in is possible. Therefore I ask one of the helpful Lufthansa employees who assists during check–in. Here, I am able to check in for the whole flight. But I only receive my transatlantic flight as boarding pass. She says, I should check at the luggage drop. The guy over there tells me that it was never differently. When I tell him, that it is the first time within ten years that I have not received my second boarding pass, he says that he should know it better — hey, what kind of idiot are you?!

For my second luggage, I must pay another 40€, great. The highway robbery for flights is getting worse every year. But you have no other choices. If you plan to use one suitcase with only 50lbs for a six weeks journey, you will run out of stuff.

Now I am able to proceed to Security. Also, I try to forget this idiot from check–in. Otherwise I will get too much upset of so much incompetency. I say good–bye to my parents. At the security, everything runs smooth. I only forget to take out the laptop. For my camera, I have asked them…

However, this can happen. Then the usual procedure starts with turning on the camera and let them look through. After this, everything is done. Now I can continue to my Gate H02. As usual, this is the gate at the farthest end. But eventually I arrive at the passport checkpoint. There I receive a security stamp and then I can proceed to the second luggage check. This one is way more extensive. But also this one is managed pretty fast. The employee tells me that I have just caught a dip. It’s good, when you show up so early. Then everything runs with way less stress. I am already horrified when thinking of the chaos in Chicago.

Already at a quarter past one, I arrive at the gate. The departure is at 3:40pm. Now I have plenty of time to reconfigure my laptop regarding the network. Then I make up text file templates for my diary and write down the first part of my diary. Finally, I switch the WiFi to USA. They use different frequencies and I already got fooled by this before!

Just before two in the afternoon, I get my Jedediah Smith book out and start reading. In the meantime, I have already forgotten most of my tour preparation…

On time at 3pm they start with boarding. Exceptionally, I am able to board pretty soon and have the chance to store my stuff away patiently. My neighbor, who just arrived shortly after, has such a terrible bad breath that I am not really interested in any conversation with her…

Around 4pm the plane takes off. The flight is absolutely quiet this time with almost no turbulences. Because you are able to select your own program in this new Airbus, I use the time to watch movies all the time. I start with Date Night, then Crash Titans (or something similar), then Shrek and finally Email for You — this one is already an older movie. But I haven’t seen it yet with the Original English sound. In between, my fruit platter arrives.

Also this time, my stomach does not cause any issues. However, this time I am still a bit hungry. But it is okay. At some point, I extremely start to freeze, because the air condition runs on maximum. Without blanket, I am not able to withstand it! Hopefully I will not get sick. This would be the last I would need right now…

Around 6pm I arrive in Chicago. Then my first stop is at the Immigration. There is already a very long line. It seems that another plane has just arrived before. But the line is way shorter at the Visitors — but only on the first glance. The Citizens proceed way faster and so, I am still waiting. And as usual, I receive the officer, who works the slowest and asks the most questions.

Finally, I also made this obstacle and I can proceed to receive my luggage. After this long waiting, it is already circling around and there is no additional waiting. Now I must just quickly get through customs, then I can drop off my luggage again. There, they also tell me that I receive my boarding pass for the connecting flight here — perfect!

Around 7pm I can proceed to the train which takes me to Terminal 1. Waiting at the security is this time way better organized than before. Directly from the escalator you just proceed straight on in the area — not like in the past, where you had to run to the other end of this hall.

Also here it takes quite a while. But this time I don’t forget to put everything outside on the conveyor. Here, you must also take off your shoes. Then I can proceed to my gate. This time, it is not this far away and I am even able to find a spot to sit down.

First, I check if my mobile phone still works. But despite of charging it up, I am not able to enter the network. I always receive a Failed on my SIM card. Slowly, I am really getting pissed off! But there is nothing I can do right now. I have to figure out on how to solve this issue. But probably, I am forced again to buy a new mobile phone!

As this was now a total fail, I get my laptop out and continue writing my diary. In the meantime it is eight in the evening and boarding will start within an hour. The rest of my time I use to read in my trail book.

Exactly on time at ten past nine, boarding starts. Despite this late hour, the plane is completely booked. At my row, all three seats are occupied. There is also no issue on this flight and we arrive in Pittsburgh even a couple of minutes ahead of our time. But instead, we must wait for quite a while until we can proceed to our gate. Finally I arrive and the first thing is to use a restroom. Otherwise it will be getting tight with waiting for Helen and the drive back home.

In the meantime, it is already past twelve. Next is taking the airport train to the main building. First, I walk over to a public phone, because my mobile phone is not working. You need a dollar in quarters to call Helen. Indeed, you would be allowed to talk for four minutes, where I would only need 20 seconds.

Then I walk back to the luggage claim. After some waiting, the first pieces of luggage arrive from the Chicago plane. But after a short time, the conveyor stops again, great. There is a luggage jam and the conveyor was stopped. After an endless waiting for the service guys, the conveyor starts again.

Eventually, my suitcases arrive. These green luggage belts around my suitcase are really good, they are easy to see! I get my stuff, then I leave the building. Today, it is not as hot and muggy as usually. It is really pleasant. After a bit more than a quarter of an hour, Helen arrives. I load my stuff into her truck. Then we hit the road. After all, I can stay at her house tonight because her pervious guest has already left. We chat a lot about problems within the family and also about my accident.

Around one in the morning, we arrive at her house. I get my stuff out of the truck, then I fall dog–tired into my bed. Although I am really thirsty and hungry, I only want to go to bed right now…