Ads and posters we spotted around Tokyo and beyond....... read more

Today was a lazy day...Matt went to work and Bill and I walked to the 100 yen store to pick up some cheap sunglasses, since we had left ours in Matt's car and didn't realize that we had the keys to get them out....It was a partly sunny day here, humid and in the mid 70s.... After the 100 yen store, we headed for the Tama River, but got side-tracked by a Halloween celebration, where a long street was closed off, and kids in costumes were walking with their parents. After taking some photos, we started off again, hoping to visit a Buddhist temple near the river. We found it easily and after visiting, went down to river to sit for awhile. We wandered through the quiet neighborhoods near the river, and eventually found a Shinto ... read more

We left early yesterday, in Matt's hot little Subaru Impreza WRX, headed out for Matsumoto, where there is a castle we wanted to see. But our first destination was SNACKS! The food available at Japanese rest stops is not in the same class as what you find along the highways of the USA... We bought cheese rolls, raisin buns, canned coffee, and mochi cakes. The drive to the castle was pretty....green mountains, small towns and not too much traffic. After a walk around the castle moat and a visit to an unusual elementary school from the 1850s, we headed for a mountain lodge near Kamikochi (not far from Nagano, sight of the 1998 Winter Olympics), but with an important stop first: convenience store for more snacks! This time we bought: a fermented bean and rice cake, ... read more

We arrived here yesterday around 3:30pm, after a long flight (10.75 hours...) and some sleep, movies, drinks and meals. Matt met us at the airport and kindly drove us back through Tokyo rush hour traffic (3 hours of freeway driving...one way!) to his new apartment. We spent some time talking with Justin (Matt's 13 year old son) who had run a 10 mile race that afternoon and is now shockingly almost taller than me. We then attempted to unpack, wandered dazed around the apartment a bit, and collasped into bed around 9:00pm...only to awake around 4:00am this morning. After delicious homemade breakfast burritos (thank you, Matt), we walked to the airforce base, got our day passes, and went to the outdoor activities building where Matt works repairing bikes and managing the rental store. After trying one ... read more

We entered Death Valley on Tuesday from the southeast in the early afternoon. I was expecting to find somewhat monotonous scenery once we were driving along the valley floor. Was I ever wrong! We spent the afternoon driving and stopping at sights along the way...I read aloud to Bill from the guide book, discovering how Death Valley was named (by Mormons) and being reminded about Twenty-Muleteam Borax... We took the scenic road called Artist's Palette, and were amazed by the colors. There were some flowers blooming, but not as many as in Anza Borrego. We watched the sunset (almost) from Zabriskie Point before starting the long drive out of the Valley, and to a hotel that would get us close enough to home to make it back in two more days. We were never below 4000 ... read more