Wed, 21 June 2000:

The trip began with a quick flight, too early in the morning, from Boston to New York followed by a three hour layover.  Around 3PM on Wednesday, 21 June 2000, I boarded Aeroflot's Airbus.  Seated one row in front of me was a trio (sister, brother, wife) from Tennessee, notable since I was born and raised in that state.  What a small world!  They were in the process of adopting a Russian child.  Unfortunately, I didn't meet them until the flight was almost over and our seats weren't particularly conducive to robust conversation, but at least we made a connection.

Thu, 22 June 2000:

We took a fairly northern route (polar?) that, at this time of year, avoided nighttime, landing in Moscow around 8:15AM Thursday.  Since it was only midnight back in Boston and I don't usually go to bed until 2AM, I wasn't really tired (yet!), but I was disoriented.  My ears don't travel well and it didn't help that I didn't understand the sounds I was hearing anyway, nor could I read the signs.  Thank goodness I had met those Tennesseeans;  they probably didn't know much more than I, but there's comfort in numbers.  It took almost an hour to clear immigration.  Tree was waiting for me at the luggage pickup (special girl--gets a nifty pass to get inside the customs area).  Good thing, 'cause she was able to track down customs forms in English.

It took about an hour to get to the US Embassy compound from the airport (including a stop for gas--about $1 per gallon).  Once there, I waited at the car while Tree ran to a meeting for which she was late.  She returned sooner than expected, explaining that the meeting was cancelled.  We proceeded to the other gate so she could check me in as a visitor, then we went to some office so I could register for a pass that would let me in any gate without an escort.  We ate (Mexican) in the embassy cafeteria.  My sister is very popular and we were constantly being stopped ("aren't you gone yet?"  "next Friday!" blah blah blah).  We also went to the comissary to meet Inna, who was to be my tour guide while Tree was working.  But this first day, I (disoriented, ear-clogged, exhausted) was on my own.

Tree gave me directions to the Arbat, a pedestrian street not too far from the Embassy.  To get there, I followed the Novyy (new?) Arbat, a main thoroughfare with a few interesting stores and other sights that leads all the way down to the Kremlin.  I actually followed it that far, passing the Arbat, but since I knew I'd be going there the next day, I didn't go in.  While resting at a nearby sculpture (Tree forbade me to sleep, but I really wanted to lie down "just for a minute!" on the steps!) a gentleman approached me and began speaking in Russian (I presume).  I tried to explain that I did not understand him, but that didn't seem to matter.  I think he was trying to explain the sculpture, which seemed to be quite significant to him.  It took a while, but he eventually moved on to entertain others.

I walked back up the Novyy Arbat and, after taking my first picture, took the left fork onto the Arbat.  As I said, this is a pedestrian street with a great number of shops, pushcarts, and street vendors.  None of which particularly interested me, although I did stop to listen to a few musicians (classical).  It was tough to get really excited because I was so tired and it was hot (80s F?).  Eventually, I found a shady spot to sit near a nice fountain.  There were kids nearby who eventually came over and asked for a cigarette.  They returned moments later to beg for change.  Then came back one more time to ask for the two swallows left in my water bottle;. I gave in.  Sigh.

Eventually, I wandered back to the Embassy and waited for Tree to finish work.  We went to her apartment at the Mezh.  We bought soda in the little store downstairs (about 50 cents for two liters).  As I said, she was nearing the end of her stint in Russia.  Much of her stuff had already been packed out and most of what was left was already in boxes.  The TV was still available and she quickly turned on sports.  Yawn!. As if I wasn't tired enough already!  She nuked a frozen pizza for dinner (trying to clean out the freezer) and about 10:00, she finally let me go to bed.  It was still light out, but I hardly noticed.  As they say, I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.  Even as tired as I was, I kept waking up every few hours;  maybe the light was affecting me.

Fri, 23 June 2000:

I woke up early (for me).  Tree had convinced Inna that I would sleep in late even (since she was going to keep me up).  I'm still not sure what the point of this was.  Anyway, Inna and I had arranged to meet at the "1905" Metro station at 11, which was only three blocks away.  Just in case, and since I had time to kill, I left about an hour early.  This gave me an opportunity to people watch a bit and to check out a neat sculpture outside.  Dunno exactly what it meant, but I suspect it had something to do with the revolution of 1905 (duh!).  A communication mishap about where exactly to meet meant we hooked up a little late, but no matter.  I was impressed with how frequently the trains ran.  We never had to wait more than a couple of minutes all week.
First stop was Red Square.  Huge!  And remarkably uncrowded.  At the far end of the square was St. Basil's church.  We didn't go inside, but the outside was quite spectacular.  On the left side of the square (facing St. Basils) was an enormous 100 year old store.  I couldn't (and still can't) imagine the need for a store of that size in 1900.  When I think of that era, I think more of smaller general stores, but I guess life was different in larger cities.  Perhaps there's something similar in New York or even Boston, but I can't think of anything.

Inna was an exceptional tour guide.  She spoke English quite well with a remarkable vocabulary, was able to provide extensive details about the sites we saw, did her best to answer questions about the attractions that particularly interested me, and was quite personable to boot!  I'm sure she told me about the buildings and the clock on the right side of the square, but apparently that wasn't something that "particularly interested me" (i.e., I forgot!  :-)

 
Possibly the best part about having Inna around was that she could protect me from the numerous street vendors.  When alone, I always responded to those who approached me explaining, "I only speak English."  My motivation was that they might be asking for the time (which I could easily provide by showing my watch) or directions or information (for which I'd be no help) and certainly didn't deserve to be ignored.  More often than not, however, they would smile delightedly and switch to English to pander their wares.  With Inna along, I could just ignore them and she'd respond to them if necessary.

From Red Square it was a quick walk to the Kremlin through a lovely park, the significance of which I've forgotten except that there was an important grave there at which it was traditional to place flowers after a wedding (maybe the park was after the Kremlin--no matter).  We had to stand in line for quite a while to buy tickets to enter the Kremlin ("kremlin" means "walled city", I think).  While waiting, we talked about other trips we'd been on, and I mentioned an armory I'd visited in Venice.  Soon after this, a woman approached us to explain that while there were no more tickets to the Kremlin armory available at the booths, she had some if we'd like to join her tour.  We declined and, wouldn't you know it, when we got to the front of the line we learned that there were plenty of tickets left.

We still passed, however.  I was constantly be confused by the exchange rate (28 rubles to the dollar).  The price of admission to the grounds and the churches was 210 r for me (foriegner) and 30 r for Inna (local).  The armory was an additional 290 r each.  Sounds like a lot, but it's really only $7 + 1 + 10 + 10.  Oh, well.  Gives me something to do when I return.  There was also an additional fee if you wanted to take pictures.  I forgot to do so and had to check my backpack.  No problem, Inna managed to bring in her camera and took a snap or two, which I'll post when she sends them to me.  I must say I don't remember much of the grounds themselves;  I suppose they were neatly landscaped, but nothing terriby remarkable.

We went in two of the churches, which were built by some Tsar or another (sorry Inna, the names were all familiar, but they all blur together now).  They were both quite interesting and not at all what I expected.  They were extremely tall, but did not have much floor space.  I suppose they were more like private chapels and not meant for large gatherings.  Still, there seemed to be much more to them from the outside than the inside.  The walls (inside) were completely covered with religious paintings.  There was a system to the levels, but I forget exactly what it was (something like first (eye) level: local saints, second level: Christ and the Apostles, third level: religious stories, and I don't know what the upper levels were).  There were coffins/tombs(?) all over the place too.

After we left the Kremlin, we walked around quite a bit more and eventually wound up at Pushkin Square.  (I hope I'm not distorting the truth too much, but...) Pushkin was a poet who more or less defined the Russian language.  I believe there was a statue and/or a fountain in the park comprising the square, but we didn't bother to cross the street to check it out.  The first Russian McDonalds is located there, but I explained my preference for sampling the local cuisine.  Inna took me to a wonderful chain restaurant that serves traditional Russian fare.  We had the "carriage", which is a salad bar with lots of pickled goods, cabbage, carrots, fish, and more.  Yum!

Sometime during the day, Inna got me with a traditional Russian translation joke.  She pointed at a sign and asked me to read it (Tree had already told me about this, but I fell for it anyway).  The lettering on the sign was something like:  PECTOPAH.  Hints:  "P" is pronounce like our "r",  "C" like "s", and "H" like "n".  Get it?  There's also a symbol that looks like a stylized "G", but is really a "b", so try this one:  GAP.

Inna took me back to the 1905 Metro and we said goodbye.  I walked back to the apartment and waited for Tree to get home (workaholic!).  Tree had agreed to apartment/dog sit at the embassy from this night until she left (the day after I did), so we packed up some belongings and left for the compound.  On the way, we stopped at a Georgian restaurant.  I've no idea what we ate (some cheese bread thing and a Mexican-like bean dish plus more) but it was "all good"!  I'm not sure who Tree was sitting for or what they did, but they had the nicest place (Townhouse 1) in the complex.  Three floors, several bedrooms, two kitchens, and a staff of three.  Fancy living, huh?  They had more English speaking TV channels than we got at the Mezh, including the Armed Forces Network, which has no commercial advertizing but plenty of public service announcements (like: "feeling depressed? see your chaplain." or "we're glad you're here, spouse of a service person!").

Sat, 24 June 2000:

Tree and I talked about doing a great many things on Saturday and wound up just lazing around and watching TV for most of it.  Let's see, I travel half way around the world and spend a day watching US television prgrams--in English, to boot!  Thanks, sis!

Eventually, we got out and drove around the city just a bit, mostly on a big circle drive centered around the Kremlin.  Tree pointed out a great many sites, I'm sure, which are now all but forgotten (so Inna, don't feel bad!).  After that, we drove to a "dacha(sp?)" (country home) that was owned by the Embassy(?) for a going away party one of Tree's coworkers, Dennis(?), had organized.  They had roasted a pig (head and all--which thrilled Tree to no end!) and had several other items available as well.  The pork was cold by the time we got there;  there's no salmonella in Russia, is there?

Dennis was there with his Russian girlfriend along with a couple of US CB's and a couple of other Russian ladies.  Also present was a complement of the hired labor(?) from the embassy project, mostly(all?) Filipino, with families who sat around playing guitar and singing American songs.   Many of the guests spoke English, to some extent, so conversation was pretty easy.  This was the closest I got to a "traditional" Russian night out (although the alcohol of choice here was beer).

At one point, I was bitten by a mosquito.  As I smacked it, I noticed the time.  10:30PM and the mosquitos were just coming out!  It wouldn't be dark for another hour, at least.  And, so I'm told, the sun would be coming back up by 4AM.  Wow!  Tree and I had considered going to St. Petersburg, but all the trains were booked by people heading up for the "White Nights" (apparently little or no darkness).  We left around 1AM with a car full of people.  We dropped the two extra Russian girls at a nearby Metro and took a small Filipino family back to their house, which was more or less on the way home.  I think we skipped TV that night.

Sun, 25 June 2000:

Tree took me down to an overlook of the city in front of Moscow University(?).  It was a beautiful view, although Moscow doesn't have much of a skyline.  After I took my photos and put away my camera, Tree began pointing out various points of interest.  I suppose I should have taken notes, but without a zoom lens, they wouldn't be particularly easy to find in the pictures.  Anyway, this is apparently another favorite spot for wedding parties to deposit flowers.  Whatever.

After this (or maybe before) we went to a huge bazaar.  Tons of vendors selling mostly traditional Russian crafts, like Matrishka(sp?) dolls, painted "eggs", laquer boxes, toys, and more, plus all sorts of military goods (canteens, compasses, squeeze-powered flashlights, etc.) and other odds and ends.  I tried resisting as much as I could, but did wind up buying a few things.  Tree was much less successful.  Actually, I don't think she was even trying;  she was on a first name basis with several of the vendors.  She'd also taken (or accepted) orders from friends for sets of dishes or tea sets.  And guess who had to carry them?

After the bazaar, we headed back to her apartment (at the Mezh.) to pack everything else up.  We loaded what we could in her car (on top of our spoils) and took it back to the embassy.  A second trip cleaned out the apartment.  TV, dinner, and bed.

Mon, 26 June 2000:

Inna met me at the security gate of the embassy, and we walked to the nearby Metro station.  The first stop of the day was supposed to be an art gallery, but it was closed.  So we moved on tothe All-Russia Exhibition Centre, which is apparently known by many acronyms (none of which I know how to expand):  VVC,  VNDKh, VVTs.  This was one of the most striking parts of my trip.  It is comprised of several architecturaly diverse buildings surrounding a central walkway and and some beautiful fountains.  The park was originally intended to showcase and highlight the Soviet accomplishments and achievements.  Like the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, each pavillion had a different theme:  culture, farming, science, and so on.  Fine, so far.  But, today, the museums are deviod of exhibits.  These have been replaced by shops selling goods which are often not even made in Russia (e.g., computers, cameras, etc.).  A loudspeaker system was filling the air with jazz, and my heart was filled with sadness.

First, it struck me as something of a sacrilige--kind of like the scene that confronted Jesus when he entered the temple and found the money-changers and vendors selling their wares.  I mean, a small gift shop would be okay, but to have this entire exposition center filled with stores just seemed wrong.  Plus, opinions of the Soviet state notwithstanding, I was saddened to see 60-80 years of a people's heritage so forgotten.  Is there nothing from that period of which they can be proud?  It would appear so, though I doubt that's true.  Perhaps they need a little more distance to gain some appreciation.  Or perhaps I'm just making too much of this.  I mentioned my reaction to Inna and didn't seem to understand.  I found that sadder still.

It appears, from reading the link above and a writeup in the Moscow edition of "Where", that there was much more to All-Russia Exhibition Center than I realized.  Perhaps I should return sometime for the "Winter Festival" when the place is filled with folk music and dancing.  That would be most entertaining.

After visiting a few of the pavillions (botany: filled with garden shops, culture: filled with traditional craft vendors), we wandered over to the famous "Worker and Woman Collective Farmer" statue.  I'm sure you'd know it if you saw it, but I couldn't find a good spot to take a picture, so I passed.  Sorry 'bout that.  There was a huge pool in front of it which would have made for a great reflective shot if it hadn't been empty!  Near the Metro station was a giant jet-age "Space Obelisk" which you can see in the distance in one of the above postcards.  Inna told me how tall it was;  you know (by now) where that went!  :-)  I believe it may have been a museum, but we didn't go in.  Another reason for another trip!

What trip to a foriegn country would be complete without a visit to a local McDonalds?  I fought the temptation successfully all but once, but it's just as convenient there as it is in the states.  Though popular, the initial craze (the one mile line when the first one opened in Pushkin Sq.) has worn off and we were served promptly.  Tasted pretty much the same.  High-fat fast food does not appear to be a mainstay of the Russian diet.  Most of the women I saw fell into the "way too skinny for me" or "just starting to be curvy enough to look nice in their short skirts and barely opaque fabrics" body styles.  I don't think I saw anyone I'd even consider voluptuous, much less heavy.  But I digress.

I don't remember which came first, but before or after lunch and before or after the river (see below), we walked through some park somewhere the significance of which Inna described and I've long since forgotten.  Oooh!  Oooh!  The glass bubble you see in the picture to the left I believe is a skylight to something underneath (maybe a mall?).  According to Tree, Russians like to pose;  I suspect Inna found me a particularly uninspiring model.

As we passed through an alleyway, she pointed out an interesting set of balconies.  The tenants had each finished their balconies in their own style.  You can almost guess the relative salaries of each.

The last item on our agenda for the day was a boat ride down the Moscow river.  As you can imagine, Inna indicated points of interest along the way and I promptly forgot most of them.  We passed beneath the overlook that Tree had taken me to the previous day, then curved around by Gorky Park, made famous (outside Russia) in song and film.  The amusement park is somewhat expensive, but that's certainly not unique to Moscow!

Since there is no ocean or sea near Moscow, the locals relax by hanging out on the banks of the river.  Some escape the heat by plunging in.  I'm not sure if the water quality rivals that of the Hudson (NY) or the Patomic (DC), but I wouldn't join them.  We passed by the Red October Chocolate Factory which we were going to visit on our next excursion.  One of the last sights was a statue of Peter the Great(?) in the middle of the river.

That night, Tree exercised a coupon our hosts had left for "buy one pizza get one free."  Let's see, two large pizzas, two people, two days (dinner plans Wednesday).  No problem!  We spent the evening  watching TV and packing our purchases from Sunday's bazaar excursion.

Tue, 27 June 2000:

Inna and Tree both had to work, so I was on my own for a day.  I decided to check out the zoo, which was a quick walk from the embassy.  After waiting in line quite a while, I finally got my turn at the window.  The ticket was easy enough (give them a large bill and hold up a finger), but I also wanted a map/guide.  Checking my trusty phrase book, I said "plan?" and pointed to one that was taped to the glass.  She said something?  Thinking it would help, I put my ear closer to the opening and she repeated herself.  I must have still looked perplexed because the next person in line also reiterated the same (I  guess) Russian phrase.  Eventually, I realized I needed to hand her another large bill, most of which she returned in change.  Note to self, learn to count.

The zoo was nice.  I'd call it a "second generation" facility, where first generation is full of small cages with concrete floors and iron/steel bars and third generation is like the NC or San Diego zoos where you might want to bring binoculars to see the rhino across the field.  Second generation is somewhere in between:  some attention to landscape but not always as much room as I'd like to see.  In addition to the "exotic" animals, they also had a more domesticated exhibit, including a common house cat and some farm pigs.   I really wanted to get a shot of the latter (inside joke), but they wouldn't cooperate.  For most of the animals, they had the name displayed in English as well as Russian, but I couldn't read any of the other information (e.g. habitat, etc.).  It was a fairly large zoo and it took several hours to see everything.  Many visitors were making sketches of the animals.

After the zoo, I walked to the Novyy Arbat to catch a trolley to Victory Park.  Sorry I didn't get a picture of the fountains here (they like to make big things!).  It was a hot day and several people were soaking their feet or wading in the pools.  Don't mind if I do!  After cooling off, I began the loooong climb to the main(?) exhibit hall (I lost count after about a bazillion steps).  In front of the curved building stood a tall obelisk commemorating, I believe, WWII (or the Great Patriotic War).  Lots of interesting detail, for which I should have gotten a postcard.  Up more steps to the entrance to the museum, then down a bunch of steps to buy my ticket.

On this level was the "Hall of Sorrows"(?)--a very dark and solumn corridor leading to a memorial (altar, coffin, I don't remember).  The ceiling lights were hidden behind a collection of dangling chains.  Some of these ended in crystals which were supposed to symbolize tears (the number of tears was also significant, but I don't remember why).  It was a breathtaking effect.  Also on this level were several dioramas, but I think you needed a special ticket to view them, so I didn't.

Instead, I went up stairs (again!  and again!) to the WWII exhibit.  At the top of the stairs was a large room with names carved in the walls.  It struck me as similar in purpose to the Vietnam War memorial in DC.  I seem to recall something spectacular in the center of the room, but I can't quite recall it now (maybe a huge crystal chandelier?).

Anyway,  wrapped around the outside of the room was the WWII museum proper.  Lots of display cases containing everything from typical personal belongings to explosive pariphinaiia to armor to weapons to communications equipment.  Your usual mixed bag.  Most of the exhibits were, like the zoo, labelled in two languages.  Good thing, too!  I could read just enough of the Russian to realize that the wooden box with a dial and wires and handset was not really "a mess tin" and that the aluminum container nearby was not really "telephone apparatus"!  :-)  I got there quite late and had just over an hour to browse.  Then I had to walk all the way down to the bottom and then half way back up to reach the exit.

Outside, on the level of the enterance, kids were rollerblading and skateboarding.  No signs were present prohibiting such behavior, as you would find in the States, and the security personell seemed oblivious.  Out back (yep, down a whole bunch of stairs) was a very interesting sculpture (yep, no picture--don't you wish Inna was with me? :-)  consisting of a corner with a piece missing and a series of objects coming through the hole in the wall.  Outside the wall, the objects were tablets (with writing on them) lying down and all the way at the front of the line,they were human figures standing erect.  In between, the figures seemed to be morphing from one to the other.  Behind the wall were shoes, eyeglasses, and other objects also cast in bronze(?).  Tree later identified this as a Holocost sculpture, but I still don't understand it.

Far across lawn (no steps this time) was an exposition of War Machines and (?) Habitats.  Unfortunately, the exhibit was officially closed, but it was outdoors surrounded by a fence which was itself surrounded by a worn dirt path.  I decided to ignore the threatening skies and followed the path.  There were several aircraft, tanks, and other transports and plenty more.  Most of these were lined up on pavement, presumably with signs you could have read if you were inside.  Some were scattered on a grassy hillside ("natural" style?).

As I was completing the loop, a great big fat drop of water splashed on my face.  Uh, oh!  I thought, looking up at all the steps I had to climb.  I managed to make it almost all the way back to the bus shelter before the sky opened up (operative words: "almost" and "opened"--I got drenched!).  I got a little nervous on the ride home because I realized I hadn't taken a good look around before I boarded the tram on the way down.  Now, the windows were fogged on the inside and rain coated on the outside.  Plus, this lane went underground (which the outbound lane did not).  Moot point.  The Novyy Arbat was flooded and the driver let us all out right in front of the "White House" (Russian Gov't?).  I knew the US Embassy was right around the corner.  But right in front of us was a terribly flooded sidewalk.  Some passengers were trying to balance on the two-ingh curb lining the path.  Others opted to try their luck in the soggy grass on the other side.  A young lady in heels paused for a moment and then just plunged right on in!  Another photo op missed.  :-(
 

That night Tree and I just hung out watching TV and eating leftover pizza.  I had thought about running back up to Victory Park to see the fountains all lit up, but it was still raining off and on and we figured they wouldn't turn the lights on.  Nice excuse, at least.

Wed, 28 June 2000:

Inna met me at the gate again and we took the Metro to the Tretyakov Gallery (if you read Russian, check it out) which we'd tried to visit on Monday.  First we wandered through a vast selection of Russian Orthodox artwork.  Many of the common scenes depicted were not unfamiliar, such as the Ascention and the "Revealing" (which I believe is the Transfiguration to Catholics).  One subject that was quite popular was the "Adoration of the Mother Mary" (or something like that), which I'm not sure I'm familiar with.

Inna had hoped to show me an exhibit of turn-of-the-century paintings, but unfortunately they had been moved to another gallery.  So we moved on to some treatments of early 20th century events somewhat related to the various revolutions.  There were also several portraits of historical figures (Czars and such).  Inna identified some, but neither of us was terribly interested in most of them.  So we moved along quickly until we came to the room Inna really wanted to show me.  I'm glad she didn't give up (I'm really not much of an art afficiando!) and I really wish I could remember the artist.  Early 1900's maybe?  Name didn't sounded more Italian(?), but Inna assured me s/he was Russian. One fairly large iradescent moonlight landscape of a river really caught my eye.  I didn't want to leave.  Until Inna mentioned our next stop:  the Red October Chocolate Factory!

We were hoping to get a tour, like they give at witeries, but alas, they only do that for large, organized groups with prior arrangements.  Okay, at least I was able to buy a box of chocolates (some sort of fruit nougat), about 50 pieces for two bucks.  What a deal!  And delicious, too.

Ftom there, we walked a ways to the Metro and took the train to some convent.  Well, it used to be a convent.  Then it wasn't.  Then it was again, sort of.  I lost track.  Anyway, it was quiet and attractive with the graves of several prominent people (the identities of whom I've, of course, forgotten) on the main grounds, and from the inquiries made by others afterwards, a most impressive(?) cemetary, which we didn't hae time to visit.

We had to rush back to the Embassy because I was supposed to meet Tree and several of her friends who were going to the German Embassy for dinner.  We got to the gate about ten minutes late.  I gave Inna a note on which I'd tried my hand at writing "Thank you very much" in Russian.  Even if she couldn't acually read it, she seemed to understand.

Tree saw me heading to Townhouse 1 and met me half way in her car.  The restaurant at the German Embassy was nice, but kinda muggy (AC on the blink).  I ordered I thought would be sausage, but turned out to be ham and eggs.  Still, not too bad.  It had been sprinkling off and on all day (mostly off) and the sky opened up during dinner, but cleared somewhat before we had to drive home.  It was late and I reluctantly agreed to a 7AM wakeup call (the driver, Max, would be waiting at the gate at 7:30).

Thu, 29 June 2000:

7:15:  "Joe!  Get up!  Get up!"  I grabbed a quick shower and headed out the door (thankfully, I had packed the night before).  Max was waiting outside;  I gave Tree a hug and we were off.    At the airport, I met a couple whe were on their way back to Philly after an initial "Russian adoption" visit.  Then, on the plane (Aeroflot again), I sat across from a girl from eastern Russia who wa on her way to surprise her former exchange-student host family in Kansas.  In front of me was a Pakistani girl who was traveling with her family to visit relatives in Detroit.  We had a pretty good conversation for most of the ten hour return flight, but they crashed two hours early (remember, they were many time zones ahead of me).  Oh, well, I returned home safe and sound and went into work bright eyed and bushy tailed the next day.

Scrap Photos:

Here's a postcard of a church I don't think I saw and a few extra photos that I took.  One I could't identify except that I took it fromthe boat on the river on Monday.  The other two were the first ones on the roll that I snapped to make sure the film was loaded, but I had so few pix, I thought I'd post them anyway.  :-)  Do enjoy

THE END