Her website section "Ghost Town" begins, "My name is Elena. I run this website and I don't have anything to sell. What I do have is my motorbike and the absolute freedom to ride it wherever curiosity and the speed demon take me. This page is maintained by the author, but when internet traffic is heavy it may be down occasionally.

Her story is an amazing one, of riding her motorcycle through the Chernobyl "dead zone", the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster. It's several pages long, and is riviting. Plan to spend some time reading it.

It turns out that this story was a hoax. In New York Times article about tourism in Chernobyl they mention:

One group came for a hoax. About two years ago, Mr. Tatarchuk said, a Ukrainian woman booked a tour, wore a leather biker jacket and posed for pictures. Soon there appeared a Web site in which the woman, using the name Elena, claimed that she had been given an unlimited pass by her father, a nuclear physicist and Chernobyl researcher ("Thank you, Daddy!" she wrote) and now roamed the ruins at will on her Kawasaki Big Ninja.

The site, www.kiddofspeed.com, billed as a tale "where one can ride with no stoplights, no police, no danger to hit some cage or some dog," was a sensation, duping uncountable viewers before being discredited.

They certainly duped me.

Posted by terrie at 07:33 PM

June 02, 2005

In Defiance

I went home for a short visit with family over the Memorial Day weekend.

When I book flights, I first narrow down my options based on what's the least expensive ticket with a maximum of one stop/transfers. After that, I look for the shortest total travel times and/or the most interesting cities to stop in. (After being stranded in cities a couple of times, I figure I may as well try for someplace I've never been before, so if I do get stranded, maybe I can spend some time exploring a new city.

When the dice rolled on this trip, I ended up on a flight from Oakland to Nashville, then to Detroit. (The trip back routed through Phoenix).

Oakland airport was packed on Friday. The security line went out the doors and out into the parking area. But they got us through quickly, and the airporter bus schedule had me there extra-early anyhow. The flight to Nashville was uneventful.

I had three hours to wait in Nashville. (I must have been going for "interesting city" rather than "least total travel time" on this part of the trip!) Throwing all my hard work dieting to the wind (I'm going home, anyhow!), I had a BBQ pork sandwich...it was delicious. During this time, a older drunken black guy sat down across from me and tried to engage me in conversation. With mustard and ketchup from his hotdog running out of the sides of his mouth, he asked where I was from, and I answered "California".

"Are you a movie star?" he needled.

"No. Are you?" I replied. He laughted but said that he wasn't. Luckily, I was almost done and the waitress, sympathetic to my plight, cashed me out right away.

I still had plenty of time to kill, and I noticed a nail salon in the terminal, so I treated myself to a manicure. I explained to the manicurist that my Mom really appreciated nice nails and she'd probably like it that her tomboy daughter had nice nail polish on her fingernails for once instead of just weird polish on her toenails. In any case, it was a really nice way to spend extra airport time. (Nashville also has a massage place in the terminal). I regret not buying the "Nashville Flyswatter" in the shape of a guitar for Steve.

While boarding in Nashville, I decided to go for a window seat on the right. I figured if we were going to Detroit, there might be a chance of passing over Defiance.

I didn't really believe that we'd actually pass over Defiance, but as we got closer to Detroit, I looked down and saw two sizable rivers meet. The pattern of bridges looked right, so I immediately dove into my backpack, spilling all sorts of stuff out, and grabbed my camera to start shooting photos. And it turns out that I actually managed to capture my parents house, my childhood home, from the plane. That photo, a labeled version of it, and others from my trip, can be seen here:

My time in Defiance was really good. In additon to my immediate family, I got to see lots of extended family. I was especially glad to see my Aunt Connie and my Grandpa and Grandma. And I was happy to visit Uncle Paul.

Visiting with immediate family was really fun, of course. My niece, Lilly, is quite a pistol. She's super smart, and sassy to boot. At three-and-a-half, she's already won a division in a tri-state skating championship! I had fun trying to help her fish in Grandpa and Grandma's pond. But she caught at least one bluegill and one bass without my help!

We had a good time on Sunday watching the Indy 500 at Jenni's house, but Defiance native (and neighbor!) Sam Hornish hasn't vanquished his Indy demons quite yet. Still, his unfortunate departure gave us a chance to root for underdog Danica Patrick. Steve pointed out SFGate.com's "Betting Fool" take on it:

She was polished, almost too slick at times. Her parents are disturbingly media savvy. She bounced out of her car on Sunday looking like the splashy back end of a Pantene commercial.

The IRL marketing chipmunks saw this as a chance to put NASCAR in its hillbilly place for a weekend and they did exactly that.

At this rate, I may become as much of an IRL fan as an IHRA fan. Which, given my attendance, probably isn't saying much.

I had a nice walk around the farm with my brother, Andy, too. He showed me a place where he and Tony caught crawdads, and once found a leech before they figured out what leeches were. The boys have all the fun, I tell ya!

Oh yes, I got to see eagles, too. Two Bald Eagle nests, one glorious adult Bald Eagle, and two "branchers" -- dark eaglets just old enough to start hopping around in the tree around their nest. Also, hummingbirds showed up at my parents house, and Dad got feeder around in time to get them hooked. What kind? Dunno! I do think I saw a Rufous-crowned sparrow in their yard, which is something we worked very hard to see during Christmas Bird Count here on the west coast.

I ate too much. My mom and grandma are wonderful cooks, and I was sent back to California with a huge sack of food that I ate far too much of. But one picks one's battles, and Mom's Ranger Cookies and Grandma's cherry pie are exactly the right battles to happily lose!

There's more, but I'm written out for the moment. I didn't take very many photos on this trip. I was too busy having fun!

Posted by terrie at 04:22 AM