9. STILL TRYING TO MAKE IT PAST BUCHAREST!!

We packed up and left Pitesti on Sunday morning the 17th of July hoping to cover a lot of miles during the day. The maps were studied. We decided to continue South on a smaller road that appeared to be fairly straight. Our destination was a major East - West highway that would take us to Istanbul via Turkey's modern toll roads.

The road was no faster than the drive next to the river the day before. There were many turns and hills all the way. We finally made it to straighter road when the sky began to darken in late afternoon. The westerly wind increased until it was a major hazard to driving. Than the rain began. Very heavy rain with the wind. Small tree limbs were now coming down, and we traveled at a maximum speed of about 30 mph only. Some vehicles had stopped on the sides of the roads, but we pressed on until we found a petrol station that was nearly full of cars. The rain slowed to a gentle shower, and we pressed on to find a room for the night. We entered the town of Kazanda, Bulgaria after sunset (what sun?). Drove a couple of streets and found several people sitting at a table at a small bar or restaurant. One of them had us follow him to a small hotel on a side street. We registered, had a very good meal in the dining room, and tried to use the hotel's WI-FI but it did not work well in the room. Tired, we turned out the lights and went to bed. Not much mileage covered today, but we had great expectations for tomorrow.

You will have to match the captions to the photos that are below.

-T. Boon Pickens Dream
-Typical "Cold War" Russian Built Housing Complexes Seen In All Soviet Occupied Countries
-A New Chevrolet!!
-The Bridge Columns were marked 1954 and 1956. Time for a redo I guess. Leaving Bulgaria.
-Another Customs Stop Coming UP