Zebulon Montgomery Pike Trail to the sources of the Mississippi 1805 — 1806

Day 39: September 18th, 2002 Pittsburgh (Storage Preparations)

Helen already bought cereals and fresh milk for my breakfast. There is still some coffee left from before my departure. But now I have to prepare the coffee myself. Just before nine I start with my final works.

First I have to send my postcards from Itasca State Park. So I drive over to the post office in Warrendale and buy some stamps. Then I drive on to Pep Boys to get some fuel stabilizer. I haven’t seen this last year in Wal Mart. Therefore I drive directly to Pep Boys. They have it and I also take some spare fuses with me.

Then I drive over to Wal Mart to look for a new CD I heard of on CMT yesterday. But I cannot find it. Instead I see also the fuel stabilizer here, even a dollar cheaper! If you look at the total price of $4.79, this is a lot…

Next I try to find a warm blanket. In case I have trouble in cold regions, it is good to have this, beside my sleeping back. After searching around for a while I find one, which is not too ugly and is also on sale. This will be another piece where I have to find a storage room in my little truck.

Because I am already low on gas I make a stop at the next gas station. If you store gas for a longer period of time, the octane rating can decrease. Therefore my Blazer now receives gas with the highest octane rating available. Then I drive over to a car wash to really foam my truck in. After that I use the high pressure wash to get the last dirt off. Really cleaned up I drive back home.

Then I have to sort the things out, which I will leave in the US. I place all this stuff in my cooling box. Finally I also clean my truck inside. Repacking my suitcase will be done tomorrow. But for tomorrow we plan as first thing in the morning to bring my truck into the mine.

It’s now already late afternoon and I spend the rest of the day with watching CMT. Around a quarter past seven I leave for my Outback Steakhouse. There is still this barrier in the middle of the road. But another one in front of me also squeezes by. Therefore I assume it is alright. I follow him to the Outback parking lot.

The table I receive today is served by the same server which I had yesterday. She also recognizes me again and even remembers my yesterdays order. She says, it is a good short term memory training for her. The steak is as great as yesterday. Also the refill of my Coke worked out way better than yesterday.

Just when I am finished, the manager stops by and takes a seat. It seems like he realized that I am here now two times in a row. His name is Rob — and mine is Robert! What a coincidence!

He is a real nice guy, but looks very young to me for a manager. Anyway, he does a great job. I have never seen before, that a manager checks with a guest, if everything is alright. Around a quarter past eight I pay and drive back home. I spend the rest of this day with — what else: CMT!