Texas 2017 - Munich-Dallas

Friday, 06/30/2017, 08:00 AM Breakfast with the team at the Airport-Hotel. Equipment was handed out the day before, what to take. Problem: this must be presented to the respective customs officials in both Germany and the USA. Respect, especially in the USA, before this part; we will see. The team consists of Marco Engel, German colleague with Austrian passport, lives near Stuttgart and 2 new colleagues from Moldova, Radu and Vadim. Unfortunately, they don't speak German, so our official language is English from now on.

09:00 AM Departure to the airport, first to the customs office. Everything worked out fine, nice staff there, quickly done. Then checked in the luggage, the nice British Airways employee didn't charge me for excess baggage or the extra suitcase, since we are 'so nice guys'. I also talked to Jacob, who had left for Tokyo a few days earlier.

Then we left on time, layover in London-Heathrow, 1 ½ hours for transfer. We needed that time, because Vadim's luggage was thoroughly inspected by American Airlines.

Also arrived on time at the plane, a Boeing 777-300. 

Unfortunately, we couldn't sit together, we were all scattered around. The travel management had neglected to check us in beforehand. Man man man. We then encountered some atmospheric disturbances over Ireland. The flight attendants were just about to serve us with cold drinks when it started to get a little bumpy, as you already know. But the disturbances turned into turbulence, and just before I could order my Pepper Diet Coke, the flight attendants - rightly - were also ordered by the Captain to fasten their seatbelts. What followed was a mixture of roller coaster and speedboat ride in rough seas – all in the dark for the passenger. In between the areas of low atmospheric pressure, there were cheers and the hits on the fuselage were acknowledged with a "WOAH". It's really amazing what a tonnage of aluminum can handle – madness.

We then flew around the bad weather, drinks continued to be served, everything is fine. These little storms kept us awake throughout the flight.

After about 10 hours, we arrived in Dallas. Immigration, customs, baggage, everything went smoothly, it's already 9 PM local time. Then we had to go outside to the shuttle bus to the rental car center. When we opened the door, there it was; the heat: It's like that moment when you open the sauna door in the spa area for the first time, or when you open the oven to check if the pizza is crispy yet. WHOOSH! Still 30 degrees Celsius, wearing jeans, which immediately started sticking to my skin due to the tremendous humidity here. Madness.

Anyway, we continued, picked up the rental car, a brand new Dodge Durango, a 7-seater SUV, nice car. Half an hour drive to the hotel. When we arrived there, the colleagues were already waiting for us with cold Budweisers – lovely. Checked in, heard a couple of stories from the guys, but then went to bed early.

The hotel itself is also very nice. It is built like an atrium, so the rooms all open onto the courtyard.

The rooms themselves are large and spacious, decorated in a southern style. Nice.

The weekend is free for acclimatization, work will start on Monday. However, we will use the days to ensure a smooth handover. It needs to continue seamlessly and smoothly here. It doesn't help to complain. On Saturday, we want to have a barbecue together; good idea.