June 27 2011: All right, I know, it's been a couple of weeks. But every now and then, there's a day or two, or five where nothing gets done around the house...this was one of the weeks. We did have an outing on the 2oth...Shane's birthday. But first...above is a shot from June 2009. Below, two years later. Same road, slightly different section. I forgot how little she was two years ago, and how much she has grown!
Anyway, on the 20th took a bike ride to "Statue of Liberty Park". Nope, not real sure how far it is. I could tell you the driving distance if I were to go and drive the route. Bicycles take a little longer, as our goal was to stay off the main road and take some back roads. This probably made the route twice as far. Especially since there was a lot of...take this road, wait it's not going in the right direction, cut across to this road, now go this way....there was a bit of a zig and zag effect going on.
Our goal is to by some odometer for our bikes so we can get a better sense of just how far we go out of our way to take back roads. This won't stop us from back roads...they're the best.
So, along the way we saw folks working in the fields and found another shrine.
Naturally there are the vending machines out on the side of the road....nothing else in the area, wide open nothingness...but there's something to drink!
Ahh, nearing our destination. Not sure who this statue is of (and yes, I know my preposition is dangling...and English major, I'm not)
The signs we've been looking for. Sure this sign says it's only 1.2K to Statue of Liberty Park...that's after the 8-10 kilometers we've already gone.
There were actually 7 dwarfs lined up, but only 6 would get close enough together for the photo.
Proof that we made it.
There are lots of trails in the park. So we went around to a side that we've never been on, which of course, loops back to places we've been.
Andi practicing her "superstar" pose. (and no, she has not yet seen that movie....someday, when she's a bit older)
Signs along the way. Top one indicating that no, you can't ride your bike through there, the bottom one saying it's ok. The school kids use the pathways on their way to and from school. Also they use the pathways to do their "laps" for the after school sports programs.

No, that's not some new flowering plant, that's somebodies hat!

Now, below are some pretty flowers, of the non hat species.

A nice house along the way. Oh, we are headed back home. But not by the same route taken to the park, that would be boring. Turns out there are some nature trails that wind around and about.
Along this part we had to stop for a rest, and then to see if we could find any fish in the canal way....we did!

So 5 hours after leaving home, we finally made it home. There are some parts we want to go back and re-explore...I'm all for it, just as long as we don't have to pedal uphill (I loathe uphills)

This weekend (the 26th) was "American Day". An annual event put on by the base to share the American culture with the Japanese. There is a parade that kicks things off. There are a bunch of activities as well, so one can only assume those in these costumes were on the way to an activity...as they weren't in the parade.
I had to take a picture of the security guard. No doubt wondering where the American Parade was. The motorcycles had already done their part (about 100 bikers this year) of riding the route. Seemed like forever for the rest of the parade to catch up.

The color guard.

A dance troupe. The parade wasn't as large this year as it seemed last year. Although there were a LOT of folks out for the event (both American and Japanese), the parade seemed a bit more subdued.

Ok, I know it's just a fire truck. But after spending years around the little toy Japanese trucks, this just seems so HUGE! It's not like I haven't seen and American fire truck in these years, as this is what is used on base. But seeing it outside the gates, on the Japanese roadway, it just seems so HUGE!

Below: Andi with a panda. No, she doesn't look real happy. But she wanted to go up to it. These mascot things still freak her out a bit. There was a Big Bird one....nope, didn't want anything to do with it.

Now there's a rare site (above) sailors in dress whites out in town. They had finished up with their part of the parade and had to walk back up to the base. Just so unusual to see anymore...

Ok, loved this motorcycle. Not so much the bike itself, but the sheer quantity of stuff that is packed onto it. Really, at a certain point, don't you just want to purchase a special trailer for the bike? Or perhaps it's time to simplify your life again.

Some biker dudes.

Military working dogs putting on a demonstration. Really, when somebody says "stop or I'll sick my dog on you" for heaven's sake....STOP! Couldn't help but notice that these dogs were smiling the whole time...they love their job!

Above: Anybody up for some octopus? or squid, or whatever the heck it is? yeah, me either. Andi and I went for the safe chocolate covered bananas.

Below: Apparently even Pooh Bear has a girlfriend. (hard to tell from this angle, but it was a Pooh Bear costume)

The dreams start young! The little kids loved sitting on this bike.

There were a bunch of bands up and down the road. Took a video of this one, but can't get it to load. (and feeling far to impatient to figure out why) They sung in english, but just had to love the wig on the dude on the left.)
So there you go. Two weeks worth of stuff. And I still have stuff on another camera! Oh, I'll save it for next week, on the off chance that we don't go anywhere....

An actual day's journey!

June 11 2011: Well, I'll be! We got out for an adventure. And not just round about town either! Today we ventured off to an area known as Nanbu. For those who look things up on a map, it is west of Hachinohe. We went to a specific location, "Nagawa Cherry Village". It's in the foothills of Mt. Nakui, surrounded by lots of orchards (cherry and apple) and of course, rice paddies.

As always, a pretty drive. And oddly, few "car arguments". Must be that we are getting more comfortable with getting around. Ok, it could be that I am getting more comfortable with just being lost. Our plan of attacks are generally map guidance to get there, then wing it all the way home. (I will admit to having a compass with us now, so we at least get a general idea of which was is North...since that is where most of the "car arguments" stem from...which direction are we headed?)

But I digress. Our first stop (well second if you count the Lawson for a now traditional round of snacks and drinks to revitalize ourselves) was at Nagawa Cherry Village. Here they have "tree camping" (that would be the above photo) It wasn't open yet, so we didn't get to look in one. But I hear that they are big enough for 2-3 people. Access is gained through a trap door in the floor. They're not really trees....posts sort of made to look like trees. Andi wants one in the back yard. (some day when we have a backyard.)
The main purpose of this trip was to find the dragon, and climb it. If you recall, from back in September or October, Andi's class had a field trip out to this very area to pick apples. In a distance I could see this tower. Well, now it's up close! The literature that I have for it, indicates it's 100 feet high. Personally, I think it's much higher. None the less, one must climb a three headed dragon (one more head is on the back side)
Starting out at the mouth of the dragon. It's a rope net to climb. A bit of work. Stairs are an option though! After the "easy" part of getting through the tongue, it's into the tubes. You know, some things look easy, then you go and do it. The steel bars that form the tubes are just not easy on the knees! (they are still sore!) And, of course, there's the lack of wiggle room in the tube. Well, section was wide enough...apparently higher sections are narrower (from some one else who has tried it. Fortunately the higher climbing tubes were closed off on this day)

Andi had plenty of room, and was able to scamper right up. On her head is a child's sized hard hat. Mandatory for kids. None for the adults. Perhaps they figure our heads are just to hard, or we are beyond hope. There's no chance of falling through, the gapes are only about 3x3. I think the hard hat is just to protect them from bonking their heads on the frame.
I'll admit to needing a few minutes recovery from that tube. I'm glad there was a steel frame, or that rope ladder would've really been a workout!
Now the easy part! Stairs!

Andi made it all the way to the top. She's not real fond of heights. (that's why the death grip on the bars)
A view from above. It was a little hazy, so not many overlook shots.

Energetic Andi hightailed it back down the stairs for another round!

The pink dot is Andi. She did a total of 3 complete circuits. On one I could hear her saying to herself "seven or eight feet, seven or eight feet" over and over. When asked why she was saying that, she said "if I tell myself that's it's just seven or eight feet, then it's all ok". That was her mantra all the way to the top...all 100 feet! But hey, it worked for her!

Shane working his way down the stairs. Note the stairs...they are staggered. Let me tell you, all stairs should be like this. It made going up a LOT easier. There wasn't as much strain on the knees...it was weird!
Now I'm down at the bottom, with the others at the top....even at a distance one must ham it up for the camera!

Sitting on the tongue (above), and heading into the throat (below).

Oh, at last a well deserved drink! My favorite is the one in the middle....it's like grape jello with a bit of grape soda mixed in. You shake it up before you open it, to break up the jello. It's kind of weird to get jello chunks in your soda...but it's fun.
We were close by a temple, so went off to find that as well.

The grounds of the Hokoji Temple are just beautiful. It is located on the side of Mt. Nakui. Lots of little shrines around the grounds and a 3 story pagoda as well.
There was a little museum as well, that the caretaker for the day had us view. She must not have had many visitors on this day, as she talked and talked to us...couldn't understand a word she said. Well, one word, for car, but I'm not sure what the car had to do with anything. And no, we hadn't parked in a bad spot or anything (sometimes parking areas are just as clear as day, and this one was). We think she was referring to the fact that one could drive a ways up the mountain to get a view from the top....I think. (well, I know you can drive up a ways to shorten the hike that you can take from the temple grounds to the top...so I'm going with her telling us about it....sometimes it's just all so confusing)

Inside the temple. The temple was built between 1240 and 1256 AD. Just gorgeous inside

Outside we found a piece of slate with the dragon and tiger etched into it.

More importantly Andi found a little door. Obviously to big for wood sprites, but perhaps a magical door none the less.

Pedestals along one of the walkways. Again, the dragon and tiger. One of my research projects will be to find out the significance of the two. Plus, the turtle from a few pictures above. Some days finding things on the internet is easy, other days....well it takes days.
Andi headed up a pathway. There are lots of cedars in this area. Some of them very old. On another trip I shall remember to stop and take a picture of the "Grandfather Cedar" which is 1100 years old! (yes, we missed the turnout for it, were going to go back that way, but then, well, other roads called out to us)
Andi and Shane at a waterfall.
Looking inside one of the shrines.

Outside I found Shane sweeping the steps.

A recently fallen cedar. So....who wants to count the rings?

Below: The ceiling of a gazebo. All for panels had graffiti on them. This one with a date from 1969. One of them had 1966. Others I can't read, as Japan often goes by the year of the Emperor, and it really helps to know which emperor to get an idea of the year....it's confusing at times.

Above: The pagoda. This one had it's doors open so we were able to look inside. Not as ornate as a temple, but nicer than a shrine....

Below: Only took two photos to get Andi to stop with the bunny ears! Though I think if you look carefully, her hand is twitching.


See, even Buddha sweeps!
It was a great trip, and a wonderful day. Definitely a must go back place. We still need to do the hiking trail to get to the top of Mt. Nakui. It'll probably be the only mountain I do climb while here.

The drive home was fun. Like I said, maps go away for return trips. Had fun going down twisty roads and doubling back at dead ends.

I know today was a bit of a long "slide show", but look at it this way....you only see 40 pictures here...there were over 100 from today's journey! Somedays it's hard to narrow them down!

We'll see what next weekend has in store....