Leaving Tomorrow

[Vaughn]

My wife, daughter and I will arrive Yoshkar-Ola this
coming Tuesday (my birthday) - and we are VERY excited.
It'll be my fourth trek, and my first as a married man. On
Thursday we'll attend what would have been my daughter's
graduation - so we'll see
all her former classmates (and my wife's students) be honored
for their academic achievements. As I understand, this event will
not have the dry speeches and humdrum of American ceremonies -
it's more like a talent show, roast and party. Just my style.

We also plan to spend time with Natasha of Sweethearts, and "Mama"
Natasha - an excellent translator and family friend. We plan
to enjoy a reunion picnic in the forest that Larisa of ayobride.com
has planned with a Missouri couple we met in 2001. Our friends Tanya
and Vitaly are having us stay with them for a few days at their
dacha on a lake outside of town. I'll finally get to do some
fishing.... are there any flyfishermen in Mari-El? There'll
be at least one next week, with a funny accent, hoping a fish will rise...

Our luggage is already packed, jammed with gifts. I'll
attempt to deal with jetlag on that trainride, which I enjoy.
Our journey is all I think about lately.

The ladies of Y-O? They'll be there, sporting summer styles,
waiting for single guys like you to show up. Great city it is!
It's where I found romance with a great woman - and now we'll
return to just to kick back & enjoy the locale where our story began.

Vaughn

[ecr844]

"Vaughn,"

   I have always enjoyed reading your posts and TR's. I hope you have a great trip with your family and attain all the items you're seeking while there. Here's an early
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!for ya, and I look forward to reading your TR.
Eric
 

[Jet]

Have a great trip Vaughn! I'm envious
My sincere hope that it goes more smoothly than Lil and Niko's!
They are currently sitting at MIA awaiting a part to be flown in from Chicago - scheduled departure was 3:30pm, and they'll be lucky to get rolling by 1:45am according to the airline... So who knows, you guys may meet up with them in Moscow 

Really, enjoy your time in the Motherland; wish it were me heading out!