Jogashima Park

Yesterday, we took a trip to Jogashima Park - which is about 30 minutes from Yokosuka. It is a park on the tip of the peninsula where Yokosuka is located. It was a fun to get out and do some leisurely sightseeing - and not feel like we were tourists in a hurry. Macie really enjoyed the trip - she took 900 pictures. If she isn't in the picture, she was the one taking the picture. Even the one where her, Andrea and Zach are sitting with the sun setting, she told me where she wanted me to take the picture. :)

Interesting things on the way to Zama

Since Mona was doing the driving to Camp Zama, I was able to spend a lot of time looking at the sights on the way. There is so much that catches the eye here in Japan. As the temperatures begin to warm up, one of the things that we are looking forward to is doing more sightseeing. There is so much to see, you could spend months just walking around the Yokosuka area.

The Tanuki crossing sign.

This a view of Mount Fuji from Yokohama. This
shows Mount Fuji from about 50 miles away. 

This is a do-it-yourself toll machine.
We had never seen one before so we
weren't sure where to put the ticket
and money. We chose the wrong one -
an attendant came out to help us. :)

Mona is always fascinated by how the school
children wear the same hats. Each class has
their own hat style - easier for the teacher to
find her class among all the students.

The more we travel, the more we see these plots
of land. I  think it is an area where people can
have private gardens.

Mona wanted me to write exactly what I said
when I was taking this picture. "My mom
said that not a lot of people drive cars in
Japan. I am going to call bull shark on that."
Just joking mom - lots of people do ride the
trains and buses. You also see a lot of people
walking or riding bicycles.

Mona Drives to Zama

Mona made her first trip driving off base. We went to Camp Zama - which is about 35 miles from Yokosuka. It takes about an hour to drive because of tollbooths, traffic and the narrow residential streets. Mona was pretty stressed about her first big driving experience but gradually relaxed the longer we were on the road.

On our way - notice how tightly Mona
 is griping the steering wheel.

On the tollway.

Luckily, we have our Google Maps.

We made it to Camp Zama.

This is when Mona started to stress. Roads so
tight that she had to stop to let cars go by.

Mona breathed a sigh of relief when we turned
to enter Yokosuka Base. We made it back.

The raccoon dog of Japan

Today, after dropping Mona and Andrea off at the Fleet Rec Center for a fitness class, I was driving back home. As I turned the corner, a small animal emerged from the trees on my left. As I came to a stop, the animal crossed the street directly in front of me, climbed a small hill and disappeared into the tress on my right. A man walking had also stopped when the animal appeared. When the animal was no longer in view, he turned to look at me as if to confirm that I had seen the same thing. The reason? The animal was unlike anything I have ever seen - about the size of a small dog, the animal had no hair and walked in a very unusual way - kind of like a Shetland pony. After doing a little research, I think what we saw was a Tanuki - which is also known as a Japanese Raccoon Dog. Very interesting animal - people used to think it was similar to a badger or raccoon. But DNA tests show that it is part of the canine family. The reason for no hair is that they can become susceptible to mange.

This is a sign posted not too far from Yokosuka.
It is a sign letting drivers know that the Tanuki
live in the area. 

Watching the Super Bowl from Japan

I usually don't make a big deal of watching the Super Bowl. But, since this is our first Super Bowl since moving to Japan, we decided to watch some of it. The girls are now excited because they just saw a commercial about the halftime show - Coldplay and Bruno Mars.