The Adventure Begins

Finally here but...

It's been a few weeks since my last entry and I apologize. I've been busy making the transition from Russia to America and it's been a lot harder than I expected. There have been some serious changes in the way the US treats citizens who spend part of the year outside the country and this has been a major focus of my energies for the last several weeks. I've put out most of the fires but I'm still not at 100%. Not the way I wanted to start this effort.

I arrived in LA on Monday, March 30 after a 12 hour flight from Moscow. Continued on to Albuquerque with a short stop in Phoenix. 4 flights in all with 2 very long layovers in Moscow and LA. Mostly uneventful but one can't take 4 flights spanning over 30 hours and not have some stories to tell. Had issues in Moscow on exit because I entered Crimea when it was owned by Ukraine and left Crimea after a new landlord took over. That means I didn't have a Russian entry stamp in my passport which drove the immigration officer to distraction. We finally got that sorted out and he let me pass. On the other end, US customs was upset because I'd been out of the country for so long (close to 3 years). Explained that I was forced to spend almost a year in Crimea getting my Ukrainian permanent residence papers (so I could go back and forth without having to waste time and money getting a Ukrainian tourist visa for every trip) and then, just when I was planning a trip home, the little green men showed up and I was forced to stay another year while I got my Russian permanent residence (same reason). Leaving during this process was not an option so I had to sit tight and wait. US customs finally said OK and let me in. All this venting is new ... never had so much trouble moving around the world until lately. Still trying to figure out what's causing this. 9/11 certainly had it's effect but that was 14 years ago. Should we really still be tightening the screws so much tighter? I'll let you be the judge of what's going on but think 'fear' and 'control'.

Anyway, after 10 days in Albuquerque it appears everything is finally coming together. I've purchased a 2000 Nissan Frontier that's in excellent condition with only 97K miles. Not quite the little old lady and church on Sunday but close. Engine looks like new with no oil leaks and runs very smoothly. Body has some scratches but that's not unexpected. I'm picking it up this afternoon. It has a Snug Top cover but that's not what I want so I'll order a nice cap which won't be ready for a month or so. I'm not sticking around for that but will return when it's ready. My hotel room is loaded to the rafters with all sorts of gear and I'm down to a few loose ends and food. With a little luck I leave tomorrow afternoon.

And the First Stop is...

First stop is Ship Rock in northwest New Mexico. An ancient volcanic vent (similar to devil's tower in Wyoming) it can be seen for miles around. Surrounded by sage brush it's almost a Martian landscape. I plan to spend at least one night there photographing both sunrise and sunset and, with a bit of luck, do some time lapse with the Milky Way. Don't think anyone's done that yet. Depending on how well my images turn out, my next stop may be Page, AZ by Friday. Should be in that area for several weeks as there's a ton of stuff to see between northern Arizona and southern Utah.

Unfortunately, because of all the moving and troubles I don't have a photo to show you today. We'll start getting serious about images (current to my travels) in the next few days. I'll not post tomorrow as I've got a million things to do and not enough time. Expect my first image on Friday if I can find a WiFi spot in Shiprock.