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Saturday we all slept in, and then Wendy and Matt went to buy Wendy a new bike. It's beautiful: a pink Giant in an extra small!
We then rode about twenty minutes to an organic "all you can eat" buffet restaurant for lunch (Thank you, Wendy!).
The next stop was Hard Off, a thrift store chain. It was fun for the women, not so much for the men......Whenever anyone comes into the store, the staff makes a loud bleating sound. Apparently, this is common in shops?!

Sunday we got up at 5:00 am and met Matt at the base gate on our bikes. We put them in the outdoor rec van and drove about 45 minutes to the Tama Hills Recreation Area. This was a Japanese munitions storage area during WWII, and has been in American hands since the end of the war. The Japanese would like it back....All branches of the military use it, and there are stables, ball fields, cabins, golf, and much more. Matt was helping with the Tour de Tama bike race and and also racing in it. The course was through the woods on trails. Matt did quite well...came in 7th in a pack of 35 or so...the race he rode was about 8 miles and he did it in about 52 minutes...

Since Matt had to stay to clean up, Bill and I rode our bikes home along the river...about two hours and maybe 25 miles....most of it flat. Many people were out jogging, biking, and playing baseball in the dozens of baseball parks we passed.

On Monday, we rode up the river trail, to the flood management area, and then beyond, ending at a very old shrine site. The weather was so beautiful: in the 70's with a light breeze and plenty of sun. On the way home, we purchased our last items at the 100 yen store and bought bento boxes for lunch. Justin and Layla came here after school, and Justin decided he wanted to dress up for Halloween, since Layla was going to be a cat. He decided on "old man", so he and I rode our bikes back to the 100 yen store to purchase steel wool, glasses and a cap...He and Layla the left to home to their mom's on base to pass out candy. When Matt comes home, we'll go for sushi...

Today is our last day..... Back to the Northwest and 20 degrees colder weather tomorrow.

A few things I haven't mentioned in other blogs:

There are public address systems in all neighborhoods that alert residents of problems or emergencies, play music at 4:30 pm each day as a sort "It's almost the end of the work/school day", and give a recorded "Do you know where your kids are?" message at 9:00pm. It's a bit disconcerting when it comes on like it did tonight, and we have no idea what's going on. I checked to see if anyone was running in the streets...

Everyone is so honest here....bikes aren't locked, no one checks tickets at sites with admission, no pickpocketing....6 year old kids travel the trains in small groups, without adults....

Older people are out on bikes everywhere...we seem young compared to many....

There are beautiful vegetable patches everywhere in the city....with small rice fields...

Every sidewalk has a strip of ridged yellow tiles down the middle, and raised circles at intersections. These are for the blind. (We didn't see a single blind person walking anywhere, though).

Everyone is so polite and helpful....

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