We were invited to the wedding party of Sigrid and Kevin in the USA, whom we had met on our North American tour in 2017. Since the whole thing took place within biking distance from an airport, we combined it with a bike tour from Duluth to Minneapolis.

Once again, the BLS travel center in Gümligen helped us solve most of the logistical problems with flights and cabs.

As we are used to, the check-in once again took a little longer and the price was once again a surprise for us. It was less than expected at 100.- per bike, as we could benefit from the special rate for a second piece of luggage up to 23kg to North America. We had expected the rate for sports luggage instead.
After the check-in we learned by phone that our booked transfer from the airport in Duluth to the hotel would not work, because the company had filed for bankruptcy the day before. Since the travel agency could not promise us a short-term miracle and we did not expect to be able to do anything ourselves during the change in Chicago, we asked Kevin for support. So we boarded the plane hoping that it would be alright. In the worst case, after a ~24h travel day, we would have had to assemble our bikes already at the airport and drive to the hotel ourselves.
On the plane, waiting for takeoff, there was one delay announcement after another. First we waited because of lack of staff at the baggage handling and finally due to restrictions in British airspace. So we sat already over 40min in the airplane until the 9h40 flight started at all.
Tired from the morning program Ariki fell asleep in the plane before takeoff and recovered until the first meal. Slept out and freshly strengthened was then no longer to think of sleep. So we tried quite successfully to offer an entertainment program with reading books, watching videos and playing games until the landing in Chicago.
After landing in Chicago, another quarter of an hour passed with waiting until a gate became free.
After the usual waiting time in line, we were able to complete the immigration formalities quickly. Ariki was lively on foot the whole time and entertained the other travelers.
In front of the customs we had to receive all our luggage. An attentive airport employee noticed us and offered his help. So we loaded everything onto the luggage carts in threes. In the process, the friendly employee helped us with the luggage through customs to the renewed luggage check-in. That was a super service!
During the terminal change we finally found time to inquire about airport transfers in Duluth. Luckily Kevin was able to convince the hotel staff at the reception with several calls to transport our luggage, so that the hotel's own shuttle picked us up one hour after our arrival. That was really relieving news!
Once we arrived at the new terminal, there was another security check. Since we had filled our water bottles in the meantime with water, it was checked whether this can not explode. Moritz opened the drinking bottle a little too enthusiastically, so that the security guard took a step back. After the check, it was only enough for a small bite to eat for z'night. When we reached the gate afterwards, boarding had just started.
After we sat down in the plane, Ariki immediately fell asleep. This flight then took off on time and we even reached Duluth about 30 minutes early. There we had to wake Ariki up after the landing.
At the luggage return we received our bikes before the regular luggage.
As announced, the hotel shuttle arrived about an hour after arrival. The helpful driver was pleasantly surprised that everything was nicely packed. I guess he was expecting unpacked bikes. Since the car was not huge, we could not immediately imagine how to load the large boxes. But the driver casually said that we could surely solve the problem together until dawn. This positive attitude was a great relief for us, since we had experienced this differently in Canada. After three trips with the shuttle, we then reached the hotel after midnight, where we could finally sleep after more than 24h of travel.