John Colter Trail 1807 — 1808

Day 39: September 21st, 2005 Pittsburgh (Preparation for Storage)

Yesterday I set up an appointment with David to put my old tires on the truck for storage. But before I make another stop at Wal–Mart to buy a cover for my tires. When already being there I also buy some vitamins, because they are way cheaper over here than in Germany.

Then I drive over to the car wash to have my tires somehow clean in my truck. When I arrive at David’s house, I am so lucky, that he is still there. He shows me how to use the pressure jacks to lift the car when it is on his lift. This saves me from manually lifting the car with the car jack. He also has an electrical impact wrench, which makes changing tires really easy.

However, I have big issues to fit the tires in my little truck. I have to rearrange almost everything and must release the rear seats and flip them a little bit forward. Then I am able to fit three tires in horizontal, while the fourth tire must stand upright.

I say good–bye to David. We will meet the day after tomorrow anyways for the usual farewell dinner. Back home at Helen’s I pack all the stuff together, which will stay in the truck. Then I start my search for my next years trail book. Unfortunately I have forgotten the exact title and the computer at Barnes & Noble is currently not working. They are at the moment not able to do a keyword search. So I have to leave without a book.

I drive over to a gas station and add the fuel stabilizer. Then I am driving back to Helen. Today she prepared stuffed peppers and her daughter Johnna also joins us for dinner. While we make ourselves comfortable in front of the TV, she also serves a delicious chocolate ice cake. Around 10pm I slowly make myself ready for going to bed.