Driving in Kosovo

Man, the new highway is n-i-c-e!

Anaklia & Zugdidi but not the Rukhi Krepost

It's been just over a month since I arrived in Georgia. As I settle into new rhythms, my dependence on my American colleagues is lessening and I'm finding myself happy in the way my life is starting to flow again. This past Friday, I had the good fortune of going with a handful of folks (including my favorite contact at the embassy) over to Anaklia, which is a town in western Georgia along the Black Sea and quite close to the border with Abkhazia.

We arrived in the early evening just before dusk. A storm was blowing in and the palm trees dotting the hotel perimeter were bent over and fluttering about (much like I imagine the trees in The Lorax do). We dropped our bags in our rooms, all of which had views of the Black Sea, and met downstairs for dinner. The buffet-style spread was fairly simple: salads, fish, bread, cheese, rice, and a few other odds and ends. The food was excellent, though. Coupled with Georgian wine and talk of extraterrestrial phenomena, it made for a great way to wind down a day of travel and visits with Akaki Tsereteli State University in Kutaisi.  After a post-dinner, windy walk along the beach that included a stroll over an unlit, still-marginally-under-construction bridge, I had an early night to bed.

The night's wind brought in a rainy morning. I really wanted to spend more time in bed looking out my window at the weather and the sea, but we needed to be off early to head to Zugdidi, which was about 40-minutes inland. I had planned to do a bit of exploring around Zugdidi, but it was absolutely pouring and I had neither a water resistant jacket nor an umbrella. I borrowed an umbrella (and eventually had help in tracking down one to buy for myself), roamed around the city center, visited a few art galleries, and took some photos. When it was time for me to meet my group for lunch, I was pretty wet even though the umbrella had kept the bulk of the rain off of me.

Georgian food agrees with me. Every time I sit down to a meal, I'm delighted. Yesterday, after I finished observing my (all female) teachers, we sat down for coffee and some cake. As it does, talk eventually got around to my thoughts on Georgian food and it was all I could do from demanding cooking lessons from these women.  One of the things I really like about working with all women (and from what I understand, all of the English teachers are women except for one male who works in one of the villages) is that it's easier to forge relationships. I've never appreciated that before.

The rest of my stay in Zugdidi was quite pleasant. While the rest of the carload drove down to Batumi on a work-related visit, one of my colleagues and I opted to remain in town and have dinner with a lovely young woman on the Fulbright Program. The next morning after coffee and breakfast, we roamed around the city, stopping at the Dadiani Palace Museum where we saw one of Napoleon's death masks but somehow missed the shroud of Mary (how we managed that, I have no idea but the wallpaper in the museum rooms alone was worth the 2 lari/$1.25 entrance fee, as was seeing the cool ferris wheel-ish shot glass contraption on display).

At dinner the night before, we'd been told about an old fortress in Rukhi, a small village a 15-minute ride out of Zugdidi. After spending a bit of time tracking down the right marshrutka (#47 was the one we ended up taking), getting in it and waiting a bit more, we rode out to Rukhi (50 tetri/30 cents) and got out at the school. With no fortress-looking anything in site, my colleague started asking the few people on the road (which was wide and pretty empty save for a handful of people and a smattering of cows). Nobody seemed to know what he was talking about although the old woman he asked did point down the road and said, "Abkhazia."

We figured that some miscommunication along the way had tripped up our understanding of where the fortress was. Nevertheless, we continued walking until we saw what we thought was probably the approach to the border crossing. Unsure what quite to do, our decision was made for us when the marshrutka that dropped us off was coming back in the other direction. We hopped on and headed back to Zugdidi.

Now that I've been home and have had the benefit of Google, I can see that the fortress is on the river that separates Georgia from Abkhazia. We just didn't go far enough down the road. The next time I'm in Zugdidi, there are two things I need to see: Mary's shroud and the Rukhe krepost.

The rest of the day was taken up by travel back toward Tbilisi.

Random Pics from K's Weekend

View over the Black Sea from Hotel Anaklia

Along the beach

A Kirsten-blue building in Zugdidi

Love the color of this car.

Corner of an apartment block in Zugdidi

A woman walking into her building.

Cows in Rukhi (close to Abkhazian border)

Bright gate.

(Zugdidi is right up there with Spuzzum and Astrozub as a place name I like the sound of. I must be partial to z's.)

Gold Butte Area of Critical Environmental Concern

Nevada is a vastly underrated and under visited state, and I am glad for that because I can go beautiful places and not be bothered by other people.

I *Heart* Joshua Trees

Here's a shot from my trip late last month to the Gold Butte area in southern Nevada last month.

I slept here.

From Death Valley National Park

Haven't been to Death Valley? Even if you end up just driving through on a bus tour, you should go.

Travellin' Dog

Skeena is a great car dog.

Snow Near Gold Butte

It really does snow in southern Nevada. On this day, I woke up to a really thick, heavy snow. It didn't snow very much, a half-inch at most, but it was the wettest, stickiest snow I've encountered in a long time.

Joshua Trees

The place where this video postcard was filmed is just to the north west of the old Gold Butte townsite (on the road towards Lime Canyon). The roads out to here were generally good (all dirt, of course, and accessed from I-15, west of Mesquite). The view from this particular spot was fantastic and nobody else was around. I love Joshua Trees, and even these ones which were damaged in 2005 by the Tramp and Fork Fire were just lovely.

Cacti: Not Good for Skeena's Paws

Ever had to pull out the pliers to remove a cactus burr from your dog's paw? Not a pleasant thing to have to do (especially from the paw of a 20 pound tri-colored terrier). However, after a few days' rest, Skeena is recovering and her paws are looking okay.

Spencer Hot Springs

My latest road trip extravaganza began last Thursday with a night somewhere outside of Austin and a brief morning dip at Spencer Hot Springs. While I have shared the pools at Spencer with strangers, I truly do prefer to arrive when there's no one else around.

Shoe Tree, Nevada

I completely forgot to post about this...an RIP blog post was written on The Cleanest Line (the Patagonia blog) and they used a few of my Shoe Tree photos. Here's the link: R.I.P., Shoe Tree.

PS- I fixed the broken link, so if you were here prior and weren't taken to Old School's post, well, now you will be.

RIP Shoe Tree

I'm in shock. I just heard on the news that the Shoe Tree out by Middlegate Junction (east of Fallon on US 50) has been cut down.

From the Travel Nevada website, here's a bit of info about the tree:

Middlegate: Things to Do

Two news links:

Vandals chop down famous Nevada 'shoe tree'

People express sadness with Shoe Tree cutting

It's a sad day in Mashland.

White Bob

I am amassing a small collection of Bobs. White Bob lives in the car and just enjoyed a trip up to Seattle and back.

Towards Donner Pass

Driving I-80 over Donner Pass in the winter time can be an adventure.

In-N-Out

For a quick burger, In-N-Out does a nice job. Luckily, the burger had settled in my tummy by the time I made it to Walker Burger (which is south on 395 in the Antelope Valley area). Their soft serve dip cones are a worthy stop.

Oh Happy Day!

Aaahhh....the perfect birthday: camping, a successful hike up Arc Dome, Skeena, Spencer Hot Springs.... At least I managed to pack in the majority of that!

PS- Looks like the flat tire is both irreparable and not covered under warranty. To add insult to injury, the tires might just be worn enough that all four tires will need to be replaced. Ouch.

RoxyAnn Winery

I've always liked the name Medford (as in Oregon). Originally, I think it's because as a child, Medford reminded me of Mumford of a la peanut butter sandwiches fame.

PS: For more info on RoxyAnn, visit their website. :)

More Roadside Food Stops

When I'm on the road, I strive to eat at local joints that look like they might serve up a mean piece of pie. Often, I don't even ask what kinds of pie are available. I just request to be served whatever is freshest.

Random Road Food

My backcountry kitchen serves me well, but it's hard to compete with the yam & carmelized onion tacos served up by Paco's Tacos in Twisp, Washington. It's also hard to compete with ice cream.