Russia #4 – Arriving in Vladivostok – November 2014

March 8, 2019

It had snowed off and on all night in Khabarovsk but the snow plows had been busy. We considered putting on our heavy rear Pewag chains but we were heading south so maybe road conditions would improve. It wasn’t our first time putting on chains, but it is still not fun in freezing weather. Doing some […]

Russia #3 – Crossing Siberia 2 – Chita to Khabarovsk – November 2014

March 2, 2019

Leaving Chita, the roads had been plowed and were nearly dry. We made good time. There were very few people or villages now, since previously this was only a “cart road” or nothing; deep permafrost mud in the summer and impassable snow in the winter and no bridges. The Trans-Siberian Highway is the unofficial name for a […]

Russia #2 – Crossing Siberia 1 – Rubtsovsk to Chita -November 2014

February 22, 2019

After a final goodbye to our old friends in Rubtsovsk, we hit the icy roads of Siberia with memories of our crossing in 1996. Many good changes had taken place but it also brought much more traffic. Now instead of frozen mud and gravel roads, they were mostly paved, covered with treacherous black ice and […]

Russia #1 – Arriving in Siberia – November 2014

February 15, 2019

Our emergency trip back to Ulaanbaatar, (the capital of Mongolia), to pick up repair suspension parts from Hellwig and get the necessary visas and extensions had been fun and interesting, but it definitely threw a wrench into our expected travel plans. We had hoped to drive back to the capital on the spectacular road we had […]

A Tribute To Whitney Houston, Part 2

February 15, 2012

A month later (the beginning of August 1996) we traveled in the Republic of Tuva in Central Southern Siberia when we got REALLY stuck in a bog going over an isolated pass. We somehow had to turn around but with the support trailer in tow, it was extremely difficult. A short while later, three young […]

A Tribute to Whitney Houston, Part 1

February 14, 2012

Whitney Houston holds a very special place in our hearts. It was Super Bowl 1991. To our utter dismay the Gulf War had started. We were excited to have been invited by Dave Ohlhausen, then V.P. of Rain-X, to attend a huge Super Bowl Party at the Hilton Convention Center in Las Vegas where we […]