Had some entertainment taking the hired car back to the airport at Atlanta. The satnav kept urging me to go down a road which was blocked by a gate. So I went round in circles for 15 mins until I stopped and asked somebody. The satnav was a godsend when visiting places, but couldn't work out how to get me to the rental return area ! Lesson - never put your trust totally in technology.
Took the train from the rental location to the check-in desk. American airports are very large and you can do a couple of these train trips during a visit. Eventually got near the gate and had some "brunch". I then succeeded in giving myself a minor panic when I left my printed boarding pass on the table. I realised this when I was about to buy some snacks for the flight. The "fight/flight" reaction kicked into gear before a waitress kindly pointed out that I could go to the Delta desk and get another one printed. Having lost my wallet on my last trip I'm paranoid about this sort of thing - why do I give myself these frights ?
I got on the plane and it left on schedule. Upon arriving in Minneapolis I went to collect my next car and was talked into upgrading it to have a built-in satnav instead of borrowing one to stick on the windscreen as I had in Georgia. So, for a little extra money I've now got a really plush Chrysler to drive around Minnesota in the next few days. I drove to the hotel and my initial impressions were unfavourable - it looked like 1970s-style student lodgings. But actually the room is really nice and much better than the rather creepy place I was in in Atlanta. My former hotel was in a rather dingy area with nothing much around it. There was a security guard on patrol outside and I found the whole atmosphere a bit unsettling. The room was large and imposing, and worst of all the fridge didn't work ! By contrast, the room here is much more modern and comfortable. Also the lady on the front desk was really friendly and gave me lots of advice about the locality.
I'm located in Dinkytown, which is the University area and is where Bob Dylan first started playing folk music when he came here from Hibbing in 1959. I went for a walk in the city and crossed the Missisipi on a beautiful brick bridge. While doing so I got talking to a very friendly couple who had a "mini-pincher", which looked like a miniature Doberman. I had a cheerful conversation with the lady about being with people when they die (as I had been with my father). The downtown area was quiet (it being a Saturday) and much less garish than most American cities. On the way back I bought some stuff in a Deli and got chatting with the shopkeeper, who was called Laurie. She stated that the shop used to be a bar in which Dylan played ! I feel at home here - it's a lovely city which reminds me a bit of Austin (another University town).
It was actually raining during my walk, which was a relief after the crushing humidity of Atlanta. Laurie told me that they'd recently had a similar heatwave here, so I'm glad that I missed it. Tomorrow I will be driving to Hibbing, where Dylan grew up. It's a long drive but must be done !
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