April, 2010 Navigation: Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx G Friday, April 30th, 2010 The Garmin 60 series has been on the market since 2004. My very first GPS was the now discontinued 60CS model. I used it with great success for many years on road trips in the USA, both in a car an... Extra! Extra! Read All About It! G Thursday, April 29th, 2010 Last Sunday, Tyler and I were featured in my hometown newspaper, Champaign/Urbana's News Gazette. A big thank you to Meg Thilmony for interviewing us about our first year of living on the road! Us ... Precious Cargo G Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 For the really important decisions in life I've found that no list of "pros and cons" will help. Logic doesn't really apply, nor does rationality. There's simply a knowing, a gut feeling that what ... A Chance Encounter G Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 This morning, while I was securing our camera to the back of my bike, Tara announced, "here comes a flock of sheep!" A shepherd and his menagerie were approaching, complete with several barking dogs... A Life Less Ordinary G Monday, April 26th, 2010 The first day back on the road after a brief interlude of buffet breakfasts and silky sheets can be a little difficult, especially when it looks like rain. As we wheeled out of the Hotel Anna parkin... A Walk in Târgu Jiu G Sunday, April 25th, 2010 Considering that I have a degree in Sculpture, I should probably have heard of "the father of modern sculpture," Constantin Brancusi, but I had not. It took a trip around the world and a stop in Tâ... Hotel Anna G Saturday, April 24th, 2010 The first hotel we tried when we arrived in Târgu Jiu was pretty blah: on the outside it looked tacky, on the inside it was overly fancy, and the prices were exorbitant. The reception area was also... Tismana Monastery G Friday, April 23rd, 2010 Before leaving our riverside free-camp, we breakfasted on Valentina-Carmen's bread and very salty homemade cheese. While we dusted off our mud-splattered clothing, she was probably attending to the ... The Universe Provides G Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 There are times on this trip when I question my abilities. Am I really capable of doing this? What are we even doing here? Why am I doing this? What is the value of this? These thoughts generall... Cave Hunting G Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 A few weeks ago, we received a contact through our website from a Romanian who lives in Tara's hometown. He was excited to tell us all about the country he grew up in, and the things we shouldn't mi... Ivana the Terrible G Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 For the most part, the steely glares we've been warned to expect here in Romania have proven to be nonexistent. In fact, everywhere we've been, people have almost universally been friendly and welco... Site Updates G Monday, April 19th, 2010 We've received several reports over the last few months that the search feature on our journal was pretty awful. In response, I've just implemented a new google-based search. The results aren't pr... Typical G Sunday, April 18th, 2010 Today was a typical day. We woke up, and hoped that when we unzipped our tent, it would reveal a nice day. Morning View It did, though by the time we were done with breakfast, dark clouds had rol... Intruders on the Danube PG Saturday, April 17th, 2010 It must be 2AM when we are awakened by the sound of voices chattering in cryptic Romanian outside our tent. In moments, we are both wide awake. We watch intently as a shaky flashlight passes over o... To the Danube G Saturday, April 17th, 2010 As I unzip the vestibule of our tent this morning, I let out a small gasp of delight and rouse Tyler to take a peek with me. Our free-camp is enveloped in a thick, billowing white mist! A nearby ch... Into Romania G Friday, April 16th, 2010 With a good attitude, relatively clean bikes, and the excitement that comes from approaching a new country, we breakfasted on our new staple of bread, butter, and honey, and set off towards a better ... Mud G Thursday, April 15th, 2010 I spent the bulk of the morning giving our bikes a rare and thorough cleaning. The muddy excuse for a bicycle path we'd pushed and ridden along yesterday had left them several pounds heavier, compre... Rainy Riverside Ride G Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 Getting out of large cities can sometimes be a pain. Thankfully, that was not the case today. After a quick, easy exit from Belgrade, we were back on the road once more. It felt so good to leave, ... Sleeping Mat Success G Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 We picked up our replacement Therm-a-Rest ToughSkin sleeping mat today. As per usual, no shipments actually get delivered here in Europe. We had to fax a written letter (in Serbian), copies of our ... The Finisher Finishes G Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 While we've been waiting in Belgrade for our replacement sleeping mat, I've been working on a baby hoodie for our new little nephew, Elijah. Tyler, as usual, has been programming for his clients. W... The Food Game: Serbia Edition G Monday, April 12th, 2010 Unfortunately, the really good stuff we've had here, we have no photos of. There was Pljeskavica (grilled meat sandwich with many salads, slaws, and toppings), Ćevapčići (ground meat sticks, gril... Therm-a-Rest ToughSkin Failure G Sunday, April 11th, 2010 About a week ago, one of our Therm-a-Rest Toughskin sleeping mats started failing. The outer fabric began to delaminate, pulling away from the foam inside creating a bulbous air pocket. When you la... Nikola Tesla Museum G Saturday, April 10th, 2010 I've long been a fan of Nikola Tesla. When we were planning our route and I realized that it passed through his home country of Serbia, I was excited to learn there was a museum dedicated to his wor... Bad Day to Belgrade G Friday, April 9th, 2010 While Tyler was completely zonkered out this morning, I cooked breakfast. It was a last-resort sort of meal, using the remains of an age-old bag of rice. While I cooked the white grains, he slept p... Strawberries G Thursday, April 8th, 2010 Today was one of those days that went on a little too long. Though we enjoyed our flat ride, we were ready to be done after 60 kilometers (we are slow). Unfortunately, no good free-camps were pre... Homesick G Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 It being a sleepy, rainy morning, we almost succumbed to the desire to stay put for one more day. Thinking better of it, we slowly pushed ourselves to motion, dutifully packing our things in a half-... Welcome to the World! G Tuesday, April 6th, 2010 Our thoughts are with Amanda and Paul (Tyler's older sister and her husband) today as we celebrate the birth of Elijah Paul Noskowiak. We wish we could be there with you! Elijah Paul Noskowiak Al... Sticky and Rainy G Monday, April 5th, 2010 Rain this morning. We muttered something along the lines of "pshhh… forget this", rolled over, and slept through it. Around 11:30 the downpour let up and we roused ourselves from sleep feeli... Morning Has Broken PG Sunday, April 4th, 2010 8:00 AM I wake up feeling happy and Easter-y with the Cat Steven's tune "Morning Has Broken" playing on repeat in my head. Birds are chirping, frogs continue their belchy song from last night, and t... Serbian Hospitality G Saturday, April 3rd, 2010 Before we left, we received numerous warnings that Eastern Europe would be a dangerous, depressing, soul-suck full of steely thousand yard glares and ferocious dogs. So far, these stereotypes couldn... One G Friday, April 2nd, 2010 Wow. I cannot believe we have been gone a year! This time last year we were just arriving in Scotland, and I remember thinking to myself as we put our bicycles together in the airport, "what the he... Hello Serbia G Thursday, April 1st, 2010 Three hundred and sixty five days of travel. Nine countries and fifteen thousand kilometers covered by bicycle, foot, ferry, train, mobylette and camel. More than four hundred journal entries. Fas...