Texas to Alaska to Texas. 2020 Honda Accord Hybrid driving on the Dalton Highway and the Dempster Highway. July/August 2023.

[CyberCamry]

Global Entry is definitely worth it, especially if you're returning to the US to a very busy airport with a lot of international flights. It basically eliminates any wait at all, in my experience.

Since the car rental says Audi Q3 or similar, how do you know you're sure to get a Q3?

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Global Entry is definitely worth it, especially if you're returning to the US to a very busy airport with a lot of international flights. It basically eliminates any wait at all, in my experience.

Since the car rental says Audi Q3 or similar, how do you know you're sure to get a Q3?

My experience with TSA Precheck has been awesome. So when a friend of mine told me a lot about the advantages of Global Entry when returning back to the country, I had to go for it. I hear it is very convenient when you get off and just walk past the long lines and congestion at the airport. And my local International Airport is very busy each time I have returned home from any international trip. I look forward to experiencing skipping the long lines for my first time when I return from Germany next month.

As for the car situation, I am honestly not guaranteed to get a Q3. According to the contract, I am guaranteed to get a luxury brand. But I really hope I get the Q3. It is small enough to park anywhere.

From the small research I have done, I actually have read that when you get there to pick up your rental, they will try to upsell you to a more luxury or performance car. And to be honest, if I feel comfortable at that point with the price difference to get a more performance car, I will probably pay for it.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Global entry is worth its weight in gold, I think at least.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

My friend has to go to work in Charleroi, Belgium for 2 days and then go to work for another 2 days in Tiszaujvaros, Hungary.

He has asked me if I want to join him and we visit those places and hangout more. While he is at work, he can recommend places for me to visit and then I pick him up when he gets off work at 6pm. But he says when he get to Hungary, he will fly back home to Frankfurt, Germany, while I am left alone to drive back to my next destination, which is Padova, in Italy.

I will leave from Hungary and drive to ltaly to visit some other friends. It is an 8 hours drive. Let me see how this thing turns out.

I am taking my US based Garmin Drive smart 86 GPS. I just bought the map for Europe from Garmin. It comes on a mini SD card that I will insert into my GPS and activate it one of these days before I fly out in 3 days.

 

[thisoneguy]

This is awesome, you will not regret the modification to your trip. Can't wait to read the updates.

Also, if you find yourself with an open dinner slot in Frankfurt, let me know, we can catch up since Texas.

Side note - as others have mentioned - Speed Cameras galore - I would recommend Waze in addition to your garmin - Many cameras are not permeant and are annotated as police - I give the advice even when you say you will drive the speed limit - the limits change often - and are easy to miss. Side, Side note - if you don't have an easy international plan - you can get an easy international esim via app, I have used airalo when traveling outside of the EU. cheap also ~$10 for enough data to cover your trip.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Taking off for Frankfurt, Germany. Will be landing at 8:30 am tomorrow. And then get in line to get my rental car at 12 noon. I hope they can let me have it before 12 noon.

 

[CyberCamry]

Taking off for Frankfurt, Germany. Will be landing at 8:30 am tomorrow. And then get in line to get my rental car at 12 noon. I hope they can let me have it before 12 noon.
View attachment 874917

Hope the flight is smooth!

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Hope the flight is smooth!

It was a cool flight. Pretty decent food also.

But when we took off, we made a serious turn to get on our flight path. The start of the flight was bumpy from strong winds and turbulence. I felt as if we were riding on bumpy roads.

As I looked outside the window, I thought to myself that a plane is truly an engineering marvel and masterpiece. I mean, it is physics, but how on earth does a huge plane with all its weight stay in the air for 10 hours and does not fall down when it is not flapping its wings like a bird?

We landed at 8:30 am and I went to get my rental car at 9:15 am. They said no because my contracts states pickup is at 12 noon.

Here I am walking around the whole airport to kill time until 12 noon before I can go and get my rental car and drive 30 minutes to my friend's house.

Dinner

Breakfast

One hour to landing. I saw this other plane and it looked cool.

 

[CyberCamry]

It was a cool flight. Pretty decent food also.

But when we took off, we made a serious turn to get on our flight path. The start of the flight was bumpy from strong winds and turbulence. I felt as if we were riding on bumpy roads.

As I looked outside the window, I thought to myself that a plane is truly an engineering marvel and masterpiece. I mean, it is physics, but how on earth does a huge plane with all its weight stay in the air for 10 hours and does not fall down when it is not flapping its wings like a bird?

We landed at 8:30 am and I went to get my rental car at 9:15 am. They said no because my contracts states pickup is at 12 noon.

Here I am walking around the whole airport to kill time until 12 noon before I can go and get my rental car and drive 30 minutes to my friend's house.
View attachment 874974
Dinner
View attachment 874975
Breakfast
View attachment 874976
One hour to landing. I saw this other plane and it looked cool.
View attachment 874977

Agreed - even after many years, every time I fly the actual physical process of it all still astounds me. Science is cool.

The meals look pretty decent for a plane, but I've heard good things about Lufthansa so I'm not surprised.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

I went to get my rental car and who would have known? They refused to give me what I paid for. What a bummer! I paid to rent an Audi. They told me that they do not let certain brands of cars go to Italy or leave the country.

They said they would give me a VW T-Cross. Well, as long as it can hold its own on the Autobahn. I was disappointed!

This is the car they gave me. VW T-Cross. This car is powered by 2 cylinders. I was shocked. European cars seem to have some small engines that put out a lot of power for being such small engines. Well, I went and took my car and drove to my friend's place.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Talking about the Autobahn. This thing is no joke. I am doing 180 kph and cars are passing me like I am not going anywhere. Half of them very beautiful ladies ladies in hot station wagons. Audi, BMW, Mercedes. Flying past me.

My top speed so far has been 203 kph and I did that many times. And trust me, each portion of the Autobahn I am consistently doing 180 kph minimum and up in this car. This small 2 cylinder engine is packing some serious power. By the time I am done with this car, it will need a new engine.

I will say that many times that I am doing 180 kph, you see all these powerful cars literally passing me up as if I am not moving and they are disappearing infromt of me.

Cars are extremely FAST on the autobahn. I just wish I had an Audi, BMW or a Mercedes. Those cars would not be passing AT ALL. We all would have been doing 240 kph and up. Maybe next time I visit Getmany. This is to be continued with a better car someday in the future.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Today I am on my way to Italy. A journey of 11 hours that should take me about 24 hours to complete because of how many stops I have to make. I had a great time on the autobahn

I am currently parked at a rest stop in Switzerland to rest. I started my journey today at 9am and the time now is 10:50 pm. I got to this rest stop at 9 pm. I am 6 hours away from my final destination. My uncle's house. He recommends I get a hotel and stay the night, but I want to do what I do in America on some long trips and sleep at a rest stop and take off any time I wake up and feel ok to drive. I do not really want to look for a hotel and pay $100 for 4 hours of sleep. I will just push through driving through Switzerland in the night. I am sad I will miss the views though.

Oh well, let me finish posting what I want to post and then I will see what time it is and decide if I should continue on this 6 hours of driving from midnight to 6 am or sleep here or continue and find the next rest stop.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Today, I visited both the Mercedes Museum and the Porche Museum. There are a lot of threads on the internet where people are asking which is better. My own personal conclusion is that the Mercedes Benz Museum is better. If you have to do just one, do the Mercedes. 8 floors of cars and great history.

Let me share aome pictures...

I was very impressed with the top speeds of these 2 models for when they were built. These are very high speeds for those years and for such regular looking cars.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

More from the Mercedes Museum...