In September of 1992, less than a year after the collapse of the Soviet Union, an archaeological delegation sponsored by People to People International ventured into Russia. The author maintained a detail journal of their activities as they explored regions stretching from St. Petersburg to Novgorod and into the steppes and the Northern Caucasus Mountains. This was an important time of transition for Russia, when things were not quite what they were like under the previous Soviet regime and certainly not at all like what exists two decades into the new millennium.