Flight to Iowa

I will be flying from Frankfurt to Detroit on Delta:

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL143/history/20120815/0740Z/EDDF/KDTW

The flight will start in the middle of the night in the US and end around noon central time.  I am so used to 14 hour flights that an 8 hour flight seems like no big deal.

From Detroit I fly to Cedar Rapids with an expected arrival of 4:20.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/FLG3871/history/20120815/2015Z/KDTW/KCID

*****
Having only traveled to a few countries outside of North America, I don't know what is "normal", but Germany seemed more like home than any place I've been.  I will be leaving here with a smile on my face and so very happy my friend Lukas was such a great friend/guide.

There are moments where I feel sorry for myself.  I have to remember experiences like this and remember how unbelievably lucky I am.

Summer 2012: For Iowa this a rare picture

The 6-10 day outlook is for below normal temperatures.  I plan to go to the State Fair on Friday and the forecast high is 72.

I HAVE NEVER been to the state fair on a day with a high of 72.  So in a summer with extreme heat I will be going to the fair on a day with fantastic weather.

And I'm Germany having fantastic weather.  Locals can't believe how great it is.

To say my luck changed in 2008 may be an understatement.

Flight to Germany

I'm sitting in the lounge with two hours to kill before they start boarding my flight.  There were no lines at check-in, security or immigration.  I have never been processed so quickly!

My normal flight tracking website isn't working so well so I am trying a different one.  This is kinda cool:  If you click on this it should show all flights by Etihad.  I am leaving at 5PM CDT Monday and arriving in Frankfurt at 2AM.

http://flightaware.com/live/fleet/ETD

My friend Lukas is meeting me at the airport.  I will do a sight-seeing tour of Frankfurt on Tuesday.  On Wednesday we're headed to southern Germany by train to see the region where he grew up.  At the end of the week we are headed to the central part of Germany to see where my Great-Great-Grandfather came from.  Lukas has already contacted a woman there who knows all the local residents of the small town.  If there are any Kranz or Werning families there I'm sure she'll be able to point the way.