June 10

Today was a wonderful outing to the countryside--a first time to a little town called Suzdal for all of us. Wow! is what I can say initially. We almost cancelled this trip thinking it would be a 4-hr. trip one way, but we're so glad we went. We also invited friends of Patrick & Christy who accompanied us in our car--Sergey & Rina--for the day trip. They left their little girl Valya (short for Valentina) home with Babushka (grandma), who lives with them in their apartment. As soon as we packed our sack lunches, stopped at the store for sausage & bread, we picked up Sergey & Rina & snuggled in for a long road trip, so we thought. The kids drew for the first few minutes & then we stuck in the 4th Harry Potter movie while Rina entertatined us with her loud exclamations of how beautiful the drive was. Much of Russia is green (from the cold, wet winters) & the birch trees cover the countryside with their tallness & splendor. Birch forests are everywhere you look in Russia--even in the middle of Moscow. And the little country towns we passed through on the way were full of older, wooden structures & houses, painted with carved out frames around the windows & many colors all over the wooden detail that outlines the rooflines & window areas. Most of the newer structures are cement & stonework. It was a nice ride with a stop to stretch our legs & take a potty break. We saw a couple of fender benders along the way--the law in Russia is to leave the vehicles exactly how & where they "crash." Some of them are more minor accidents, but. . .others are not.










After only 3 hours from the 9:30-ish take-off to official landing, we reached Suzdal--a very historical city full of old church structures & a large monastery complex still operating. We drove through this tourist city to get a feel for the main area & then turned around to find a nice picnic spot off the beaten path. It tried raining on us all day long, but never really let loose. The clouds, however, made for a pretty cool day & I didn't wear enough layers to keep me from shivering part of the day. The clouds also made for some beautiful backgrounds for the many pictures we took of spires & domes that frequent the religious architecture of the country. It really was a very relaxing place to spend a quiet Sunday, especially with friends. We walked around much of the town, which is built up a bit higher than the country surrounding it. We climbed a few hills which afforded spectacular vantage points to capture the city on film. Scattered throughout the town were performing musicians, craftsmen (archers, weavers, accordian players, painters), & horse-drawn carriages taking tours of the town--Christy, Megan, Madeleine, & I took a shortened 5-min. jaunt in one of these carriages. We spent several hours in Suzdal & wish you all could've seen it, too. It was well worth the trip in the car & the drive home took only around 2 hours. We finished the Harry Potter movie on the trip home & started on Herbie Fully Loaded as our travelling movies.

The adult girls all sat in the farthest back seat of the van on the way home & we snoozed part of the way--only to awake to see an accident that involved at least one death. Remember I said they don't move the cars or the people 'til the police have inspected everything & cleaned things up. So you see a bit more of the life & death scene in Russia than I care to see again.

We were home & had our friends dropped off by 7 p.m. & got everything picked up & put away only to bring our meat & bread & vegetables back out for supper. Ethan's trying to construct his own long bow as seen at Suzdal. We've also strarted on a puzzle & are playing Wii in various forms this evening while Christy reads & I try to catch up a bit on the blog.

Greetings to you all as we start winding down our time here in Elektrostal. I know 3 weeks was just right for me to experience many sights & sounds of this area of Russia & for that I will always be glad I took the time to be gone for this long. I'm anxious to see the rest of my family again since I have many pictures & stories to share with them.

We're coming up on a national Russian holiday that we didn't know we'd get to be a part of--June 12 is some sort of a celebration of independence. Even the Russians can't tell you independence from what, but everyone gets off work, there are celebrations in each town & I think fireworks to be had. I'm sure we will get out & about to discover a bit of Elektrostal's celebration in a couple of days, but not 'til after tomorrow's celebration of Patrick & Christy's 14th anniversary--June 11. Wee haw!