Where the Map Didn't Show Any Roads

Often we look out our windows and see a white spire shaped a little like the Washington monument rising in the middle of the group of buildings across the river, the southern Boog. A couple of times we have ridden a small ferry across the river to Andreevka where we expected to find this white spire but didn't take the time to find it.

When we got up Saturday, we couldn't do schoolwork because the electricity was off. Everyone was in the mood to go exploring. So we did. With towns and villages all along both sides of the river, it's a little surprising to have to go 25 miles in either direction to find a bridge to cross it. (The ferry was closed.) It took a couple of hours to get to the other side of the river.

We stopped to admire the fall foliage and get a close up of the wicked thorns on the trees.

The next challenge was to find our way through the part where the map didn't show any roads. We could go way back out to a main road or we could rely on what most Ukrainians would rely on, our tongue! There's a Ukrainian saying "Anyone can find his way anywhere with his tongue!" We rode a very short ways and asked. We rode a little farther and asked again. Finally we got back on to a road we recognized.



We went into the village Dimitrivka because Dima was with us in the van. Here's Dima, left and Vova.






We went into Andreevka looking for that elusive white spire. We looked across the river; we couldn't see Nova Odessa on the other bank yet. We were still too far up. We went into the next village. Riding through it on down to the river, the spot had possibilities for becoming a site for youth camp. (Our youth had fun pretending they were fishing. I got a photo of Seth, too.)

We went into the next village, Kovaleevka. Maybe here we would find the white spire. We rode down a main street until we came to a dead end at a memorial complex. "Here it is!" Dave exclaimed, "we've found it!" We got out, admired the monument, scurried around the cows, fed the horses and went down to the riverside where another statue of fighting soldiers stood.

Then we headed home. We had to go another 25 miles south to cross on a bridge again. But we were back in familiar territory. We didn't have to use our tongue! We arrived home a little after dark to prepare for Sunday.