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

Day 10: August 20th, 2002 Pittsburgh

First thing today is calling Meridian Offroad. They tell me that Warn has released a new winch which they currently have a special offer for. That’s perfect for me! After they gave me a way description I start the next try to find them. This time I don’t have to search — whereas I missed them on the first run. The owner takes a lot of time to explain all options to me. I definitely will need a new mount for the winch. The one currently installed is way to weak. He would be able to get all parts until tomorrow morning if we order immediately. But there have to be drilled a couple of holes for installation. Due to the circumstances I cannot ask David if I can work in his garage. So I have to look for other options. The only hope would be if the shop has time to do the job. They do this work, which would be an extra $100. This sounds reasonable. I would also have to leave the car here for a day, which would be also ok. But the earliest possible appointment would be end of August. Unfortunately I am not able to convince him to start the installation work tomorrow. As I don’t have the right tools I don’t want to try it myself. The winch has more than 4t pulling power. If something starts to weaken, I would be in trouble.

I postpone this work to next year and say good bye. Let’s see if I will be able to manage this next year timewise. They would need two weeks in advance to schedule me in. The advantage is now that I can really think about whether I want the removable winch (to store inside my car) or the attached one. I don’t really have space left in my car. But there is a big risk of theft. Just the winch is $1000 as a special offer plus tax…

I arrive back home in the early afternoon with a lot of new informations. The laying out is in progress for tonight. Jeanie and Bunty also come to Helen, as well as Johnna with her family. They leave around 5pm to arrange evyrthing with the funeral home. I shall leave around 7pm. There is no need for me to be there earlier. It’s a strange feeling for me. I talked to him last year before I left for my trail to Montana. He said, that he want to see Montana once. When talking about his health he said, he doesn’t want to restrict himself. It’s better to live shorter but to live!

I leave the house around 7pm and follow Helens way description. Just to be sure I also have my GPS with me to find my way back home. The way description is excellent and I have no trouble to find my way. But it is difficult to find a parking spot. After a while I see John and he tells me where I can park best. Just a short walk later I reach the building where the laying out is held. I see David at the entrance and tell him my deepest condolences. My English is not bad, but for cases like this I still miss the vocabulary. But he seems to be glad that I showed up.

Then I work my way through to the rest of the family. It’s a bit strange for me. Everyone is around in the room and talking really loud. What a difference to Germany! The coffin is at the end of the room with a lot of flowers. The top is open to give the relatives a chance to see him for the last time. It’s a really weird feeling when I see the dead man. I avoid to get too close to the coffin. After that I chat a while with Jeanie before I move on.

I am back home around 9pm and spend the rest of the evening with watching CMT until Helen arrives. I have no chance to see CMT in Germany and this gives me the chance to extend my Country horizon.