Departure

I have been working on this post for a few days and was waiting until I had a ton of time in SF to finish it... and it didnt really happen.

So the trip to Torino has officially begun in Reno. Molly and I met my parents at the airport around 5am this morning, got to talk one last good time for about 6 months (for the family that is, luckily, i get to see molly in a little over a month) and i boarded my plane bound for SF. I had, in my mind, the plan of getting to SF early, finishing this post, having lunch, meeting people but from the get go things took a detour. We taxi out of the gate and then proceed to just sit there for about 15 minutes because of mechanical issues. so the pilot has to call the maintenance people out to fix whatever issue there was, only to come back on and say something along the lines of 'we're gonna see if this thing just shakes itself out as we get going'- not exactly what you want to hear but oh well.

So i get to SF about a half hour later than i had planned only to see that the Lufthansa check in counter isnt open. Nobody seems to know when it opens so i just sit there and hang out, thinking it will open soon- nope. after an extra hour and a half, i began to see what Douglas Adams meant when he said that its no coincidence that the phrase 'as pretty as an airport' doesn't appear in any culture. Dont get me wrong, the SF airport isnt ugly but, after a short while of staring at the same few walls, its certainly nothing to brag about.

So with about 45 minutes to go before the line opens, I go stand in line. holy smokes was that a good decision. shortly after I got in line (I was about 10-15th in line) the line suddenly grows like crazy to well over sixty people. I have pictures and ill upload them in a little bit (the SF internet is a little slow and ive got about 9 minutes of free internet left so ill save it for another day).

Luckily, Security was a breeze (but i didnt get the whole body scanner thing, which would have been an interesting experience) and have yet to see any USAC kids like i had hoped. Im going to get some grub and run around as much as i can before i get to sit down for 11 hours and get to eat wonderful airplane food.

Leaving has been quite an experience in-and-of-itself. From a wonderful going away party, to seeing a ton of people that truly care about me and having to say good bye, to having to say good bye to Molly for a while has been a whole lot harder than i thought it would be. Flying alone for the first time has been an adventure, from wandering through airports that i dont know to seeing people trip over their luggage at top speed to the family with the matterhorn hats, its been funny but im coming to a quick realization that this is something that is much more fun to share.

My plane just pulled up and its huge. I have never been on planes that are all that large so this is going to be cool to be on a Double Decker plane. I hope that I dont get stuck next to someone who stinks! that would make for a long 11 hours to Frankfurt!

As i get down to the last 3 min of internet before im forced to sign off, i want to thank everybody who has supported me in this venture, from setting up and putting on an excellent going away party to family to helping me pack and get my life into a suitcase and so on, I wouldn't be here without you and Lets go to Italy!!!!!