Our Car: We call her Nelly!Hello,
One thing about Russia that my wife and I have discovered is: Russia is a beautiful country.
Svetlana and I have traveled 30,000 to 40,000 miles around Russia. Before Svetlana met me, her travels where by train and hitchhiking. After I came into the picture we bought a 1986 Volga car and started traveling the roads of Russia.
Svetlana is my Navigator and together we can get lost in the grandest of styles. We have developed a style of travel that I call going in circles. We try to travel in the shortest possible rout between cities but somehow we end up going in a long loop to get to our destination. (Sometimes two loops!)
We have maps but the maps just do not seem to match the byways that we are traveling. This has caused us some moments of grouchiness that is no fun. To solve the issues we have developed a travel and see what we see attitude.
This attitude works the best and has landed us into some fantastic beautiful areas. Like for example, the fields of wild tulips in the Southern Russian areas. Also like when we traveled to Sochi and got lost in the mountains and discovered that we had crossed into Abkahzia. (Georgia at that time.)
The roads in Russia are better than what most travelers tell about. I get a little upset when I read about someone who just traveled the same road that we just did and all they can talk about is how bad the roads are. I guess growing up in the Country side of America gave me a different attitude about what is a good road. Russia does not have a Interstate system but the roads are not bad and they work on them all the time. Now roads going through the Siberian area are a different story. Best not to drive unless you have a proper vehicle.
Our car loves the Russian roads and has never failed us on our trips. You can find parts for a Volga anywhere in Russia and that makes me smile. 
Well that is enough for today.
I hope everyone has a wonderful New Years!
Kyle & Svet
comments always welcome.