26th of march 2022
That was the motto for this week! On Tuesday we headed north, more precisely to the port of Hamburg, with a freshly repaired, functional alternator and the newly installed awning. Unfortunately, a spiral in the alternator was broken, but thanks to (attention to surreptitious advertising!) the company Blass and Ziegler in Saarbrücken was able to fix this professionally and with humane invoicing. The time with the awning was actually even tighter. It wasn't until Saturday that we were able to pick up the milled parts that we had ordered and eeeeee finally attach the awning on Sunday afternoon. Anyone who has read my last blog post understands the drama and may be happy with me that everything worked out "last minute".
After we had cleared everything from the bus on Sunday that was not allowed to enter the ship or the USA (food, gas bottles, etc.), we then cleared everything that was allowed, e.g. clothes and bed linen. In addition, my Segway, which I explicitly registered and included in the transport insurance. Furthermore, things like my shower stool, crutches and, very importantly, my beloved vacuum cleaner. On Monday only fine work was done regarding "stowage" and on Tuesday morning - at half past five - the mission "cutting the umbilical cord" started.
The first stop on the journey to Hamburg was Luxembourg. Why? This is probably only asked by people who don't have a car or who don't have to pay for their own fuel. With a price difference of currently almost 50 cents per liter of diesel, filling up in Luxembourg is more worthwhile than ever! Especially with a 150 liter tank! Fully fueled and provided with chicken curry baguettes and coffee, we then cruised along the beautiful Moselle; at least to Grevenmacher and then onto the Autobahn in the direction of Trier. We spent the next few hours at a leisurely pace of 80 km/h on the autobahn. After all, the Skoolie is a 10-ton heavyweight. You can't do much more anyway without getting seasick and having a sudden hearing loss. We only stopped for pippi breaks and driver changes.
Lennox (my Wuffi) was of course also there and was allowed to stretch his paws during the breaks. However, he was very chilled, which was probably due to the tranquilizers I had given him that morning; not that he needed them for the ride... but it was the best opportunity to try them out. In fact, these are for our April flight, as that could get stressful for him... all the people at the airport and of course the 9 hour flight itself.
Without traffic jams or other unpleasant occurrences, we managed the approx. 670 km well. After a short stopover at the hardware store, where we got masking film and painter's fleece, we were at the parking space planned for the night at half past six in the evening - in Hamburg very close to the port. Since we were quite hungry, we went to the Italian restaurant around the corner as soon as we arrived, where we met up with a dear friend, Moni, who we got to know on our first Skoolie trip. The evening sounded very comfortable and at times. Because we were tired after the 12-hour day "on the road". then yes.
The next morning at 7 a.m. we were up again, because the plan was to be the first at the "Truck Wash" at 8 a.m. "Why wash" you ask yourself? The bus should be cleaned of coarse dirt before it goes on the ship; That was expressly mentioned in the "Seabridge" documents and of course we stick to that. After all, we don't want to smuggle a "plague" into the USA ;-) So off to "Truck Wash" in the hope that it's not a drive-through car wash because we don't want to take any chances because of the solar panels on the roof. After we first looked like crazy for the access to the truck wash, because everything was provided with barriers, it happened as it had to: It was a car wash. But actually we were lucky in misfortune, the car wash has been broken for quite some time and so we were allowed to go into the hall and clean the bus with the steam jet for 1.62 EUR per minute. In the meantime, Moni came by with a pot of coffee and while Sebastian steam-blasted the bus, we chatted in the dry.
26 EUR later the bus was freed from the worst dirt. Farewell was getting closer... The last meters to the port area were driven quickly. Sebastian had to do the paperwork in the port because it is not so barrier-friendly there. I spent the last few minutes on the bus. Then it was time to get out, this time piggybacking on Seb's back, since the battery for my back door was already disconnected. And suddenly everything happened very quickly, I sat in Moni's car and watched Seb disappear behind the barrier with the bus. Bye bye Skoolie.... I think that's how it must feel when your own children come of age and leave the parental home.
