By Trudy

Enjoy the beautiful country.

Dirk takes care of the T-Ford in the grass and there is enough wood here to put under the jack and put the tools on. It is a very daily program. After a 312 km ride yesterday, everything really needs to be checked. Among other things: checking the tire pressure, it must be at least 60 pounds and if it is less he will inflate the tire. Check the play in the kingpins of the front wheels. Checking the steering system, including the steering rod, checking the treads of the tires for cracks or other irregularities. Lubricate the kingpins with grease and oil. Check the clearance of the rear wheel axles. Check the engine oil level and top up if necessary. Check the coolant level and top up if necessary. Clean the ignition housing and fill the tank under the rear seat with gasoline. Check the tension of the fan belt. This daily check takes approximately one hour of work. In the meantime, we prepare breakfast.

In the meantime, a lot of water flows through the river that runs past our house.

If possible, Dirk checks the email to see if there is any important news and arranges everything. There is internet in this house, so it’s office time.

We leave again and continue driving on this beautiful road. One time we went down the mountain so steeply that Dirk turned the ignition all the way up and the T-Ford exploded and smoked and smelled, according to Marijke who was driving behind it, but we got down safely

There are all kinds of shops on top of a mountain, and we buy a jar of honey for coffee. There is plenty of choice. There are many flowers on the mountains here, so the bees have a lot of work to do here.

The houses here have different coloured roofs and that looks colourful

We eat a sandwich at a bridge and Dirk decorates the T-Ford.

We had looked for a hotel in Biysk, but that had failed miserably. We drove through the city for an hour with a young man who was happy to help, but we couldn’t find a good spot for us and the cars. Along the main road at a restaurant, we asked a driver about a hotel. He held up five fingers for 50 kilometres to be ridden and three on his other hand. I thought 53 kilometres, but it turned out to be 80. What a distance at the end of the day, even though the road was good. Yes, after 80 kilometres we saw the motel building and yes… there was room for us. Marijke and I hugged each other. We were so happy, and we could eat there too!!! This day we had driven 411 kilometres