Ural Vacation

Pine Mountain

Hello again from Pine Mountain. It has been a hot, sunny week on the mountain. The Sun has been out steady all week causing the temperatures to be 10 to 12 degrees above normal for this time of the year. It feels like mid summer instead of spring. Here at the ranch we have our own power. It is furnished by our 2 wind turbines and our water turbine. We also have a few solar panels that charge up a battery bank. Our horizontal turbine looks like a small wingless airplane on top of it’s 80 foot tower. We purchased that one from http://www.bergey.com/. Our vertical turbine we purchased from http://www.pacwind.net/, and our water turbine in the dam of our pond came from an Alaskan alternative energy company http://www.absak.com/. It has been windy all week too so our energy system has been busy selling excess energy to the grid.

I took a ride on my horse Rocket this Wednesday to check on the cattle and make sure the fences were still in one piece. The spring flowers were blooming and the warm weather made it a relaxing ride. I saw 2 deer in the north pasture and they took off as I approached. The fences were fine and the cattle are grazing on the new spring grasses. I finished my ride and took Rocket back to the barn.

This week Roxana tells the story of her friend Ona and her adventure to the towns and historical places of the Ural mountains. First we have our usual sections, Alternative energy, Health and Wellness, Niche Marketing, Traveling for Less, and Adventure and Treasure Hunting. We also have or news clip so that you can catch up on International news.

Alternative Energy

Do you like to tinker in the garage and build useful inventions? Today energy costs are going through the roof. More and more people are looking for ways to spend less on energy and reduce costs. A good place to start is the book called the alternative energy bible. This book shows and tells you how to can produce your own energy in easy inexpensive projects. Go to http://deserthab.offgrid07.hop.clickbank.net/ and get your copy while they are still available.

The price of fuel keeps going up in price. Everyone is looking for anything that will increase fuel economy even a little. There is a way to improve your mileage, increase your horsepower, and reduce your emissions all at the same time. You will be able to turn your vehicle into a fuel efficient one with only a few readily available items from your local hardware. The instructions are easy to follow and there are many diagrams so you can see how to do it too. It does not matter if you have a gasoline or diesel engine vehicle it will work with either one. Go to http://deserthab.water4gas.hop.clickbank.net/ to learn more while supplies last.

Do you want to increase your fuel economy? An environmentally safe non toxic product called Ethos will do just that. It improves gas economy by reformulating your gasoline to allow more air to be mixed with the fuel vapor. This causes cleaner combustion and increases power. Your fuel burns more completely and thus produces less emissions. All you have to do is add a couple ounces per tank of gasoline or diesel fuel.


Nutrition and Health

These days everyone is concerned about nutrition and health. Most of our food is over processed and has very little nutrient value. Our food looks great but not much more. If we want to stay healthy in today’s world we are forced to take supplements. The question is: What supplements will provide what you need for the least amount of time and money? I believe one of the best supplements out there is called acaiplus. It is a blend of vitamins and minerals plus acai to promote health and long life. They also have vitamins to help improve your long term and short term memory. They also have an energy drink that gives you steady long term energy. To learn more about these products go to
http://www.acaiplus.com/desertstarproducts. Check out Acaiplus, Feed My Brain, and White Lightning.

Travel for Less

In these days of rising prices, how would you like to travel and save money to? Learn how you can save enough money to take that once in a lifetime vacation. Go to
http://deserthab.airtravel.hop.clickbank.net/ and find out.

There are ways to travel for free. These ways are easy to learn. Go to
http://deserthab.fly4free.hop.clickbank.net/ to find out. You will be glad you did.


Have you ever longed to travel on your own schedule and enjoy your vacation? Would you like to travel for a living and see new and interesting places every day? Do you like to write letters to your relatives telling them about your recent vacation? You have what it takes to become a travel writer. All you need is a little instruction and you can have a dream job too. Go to http://deserthab.wp3033773.hop.clickbank.net/ and learn how you to can become a travel writer.


Adventure and Treasure Hunting

Do you watch movies like Indiana Jones and wish you could do that in real life? Do you like a good mystery? Would you like to use modern methods and tools to find long lost treasure?
All this is possible if you learn from the best. Stan Grist world renown adventurer and treasure hunter has written a course complete with step by step instruction on how to become successful. Go to http://deserthab.infoshare2.hop.clickbank.net/
And check out his course “Creating Wealth Through Adventure”


And now for our feature story

Ona and her Ural Mountain Vacation

Roxana has a friend named Ona and during the summer of 2004 Ona went on a vacation to the Ural mountains.

Tamerlan's Tower

The first stop was to Tamerlan’s tower. This stone fortress was built during Cossack days as part of a defense line against wild mongrel invaders. The tower is 3.5 kilometers southeast of the village of Varna.


Cossacks

Many of the small towns in the region were named after European capitals by the Cossacks who traveled to these Capitals on official business in the early 1800’s. In this region you will find Paris, Berlin, Leipzig, Varna, Chesma and Port Arthur.
We traveled on through the town of Paris. This town was definitely not Paris, France. The roads were so bad that the best our 4 wheel drive vehicle could do was 2nd gear in 4 low as we crawled over hummock after hummock. The site marked Eiffel tower was actually a silo for ensilage.

Kesene
The next stop was Kesene’s mausoleum. Kesene was the daughter of Tamerlan. Several legends exist. Kesene ran away with a common soldier and then was either killed by soldiers or was killed by wild tigers. The mausoleum was built to honor her passing.
Recently the site was restored complete with gravel walkways and it looks like it is new.

Demidov's Tower

We traveled on to Nevyanks.This city was founded in the 1700’s by Peter the Great on the banks of the Neiva river. In the center of the city is Demidov’s inclined tower. It was the tallest of all the bell towers in the Ural Mountains at a height of 57.5 meters. The only structure taller was the bell tower of Spaso-preobrazhenskiy cathedral at 68 meters. During Soviet days the tower was taken down and the cathedral turned into a mechanical factory. In 2003 the temple has been restored but not to scale so it looks almost like a toy.


Verhoture


We traveled on to Verhoture. Founded in 1598 this city was called the gate to Siberia. Customs duties were collected from goods passing through this gate. In the late 18 and early 19 century a large religious center was built called the empire of sacred Simeona. Simeon was a nobleman but at 17 he refused his inheritance and left for Siberia taking a vow of poverty. He died from excessive abstention at the age of 35. Fifty years later his remains were dug up and found to be just as they were when he was buried. A spring at the burial site is thought to have curative powers and many people come to be healed of their ailments.

In the last few years there has been a revival of Verhotur including plans to make it the capital of the area. The area is full of fast rivers, dense woods, fine valleys and raised rocks. We stopped for the night at the hotel Sable. The next day we toured Troickiy cathedral, and Pious Nikolaev Monastery. The Hague convention in 1959 included Troickiy Cathedral in the collection of most significant moments of architectural history. The cathedral is especially beautiful in morning sunlight when its numerous domes brightly shine. The cathedral is joined to Verhotur kremlin . The stone kremlin is a unique structure because it is the only Ural kremlin not made of earth and wood. The view from the kremlin is breathtaking. The quiet surface of the river Tura, green strips of coast and numerous trees between small wooden houses and smoke curling lazily from the chimneys provides a calmness to the soul. You pass through the sacred gate at the Pious Nikolaev monastery. Women must wear skirts and head scarfs.


Church


Before you are the white domes and dark blue dome of the Preobrazhenskiy temple. To the right is Nikolay Chudotvortsa’s tiny church and behind it is Krestovozdviszhenskiy cathedral. This cathedral is the third largest in Russia and is able to hold 10,000 believers. During Soviet times the cathedral was turned into a cement warehouse but it is now fully restored to it’s original beauty.

We cross a wooden suspension bridge that shakes under our weight and now we are in Pokrovskiy female monastery built in 1621. next we traveled to the village of Merkushino where Saint Simeon Verhoturskii lived when he was alive.

In the village of Kostylevo there is a temple to Kosma Verkhoturskogo. Around it is constructed the new-Tikhvin femal monastery. It looks like a small Swiss village. A new wooden church is being constructed and there is a landing strip for tourist helicopters. Inside the tiny Simeon church are twisted marble columns, numerous gold icons, and a floor with heating multiple colored marble tile. All these riches are guarded by numerous security guards in black uniforms.

The next morning we went to the small town of Verkhnya Pyshma. Here we visited the church of Presvyatoj the virgin. Next we went to Sysert to see Talc’s stone on a rocky shore of a beautiful lake. It is a very rugged area and you need a jeep to make it through. Finally we returned home having driven 2000 kilometers in three days.


Pine Mountain

Well it is evening again on the mountain and I am sitting in my easy chair by the fire in my fireplace. Squeekers the parrot is sitting on his perch chomping peanuts. Tonights coffee of choice is Mocha Java from http://www.coffeefool.com/. It is a mixture of Ethiopian mocha mixed with java island sweet coffee. I finish my coffee and my magazine article at the same time. I am tired so I put Squeekers in his cage, turn off the fireplace and head off to bed. Good night all see you next week.