Back in the USA - Bucky Bash 2016

After a 12 hour plane ride, we landed in Dallas and went straight to our annual family get together called Bucky Bash.We were true time travelers - leaving Tokyo on Friday at 6:30 and arriving in Dallas on Friday at 4:30. Surprisingly, the jet lag did not seem to bother us too much. It was a great weekend - and it was great to be back home.

Macie's going to high school and we are going to Texas (for vacation)

Macie finished her last day of middle school yesterday. She is so excited - mainly because summer is finally here and we are going back to Texas today. Bucky Bash, here we come.

Out on Monkey Island

Monkey Island (Surashima Island) is the only natural island in Tokyo Bay - it just happens to be only about a mile offshore from Yokosuka. We finally decided to take the 10 minute ferry ride this weekend. Macie wanted to try going into the water but unfortunately the beach is only open from mid-July to August. Why? It is really too cold right now - I don't think we have had a day over 78. So, the weather is really nice right now. But we have heard that around mid-July it will start to get really hot and stay that way through mid-September.

I told everyone that I would be a little nervous if we were riding this boat -
nobody knew what I was talking about. They had never heard of the movie.

In Tokyo Bay, you see a lot of these small commercial fishing boats. What was interesting
was that when we passed by, the fisherman working the lines were actually four women.

Monkey Island as seen from the ferry. It is hard to see but there is a line of people waiting
to go back on the ferry that goes from the pier all the way past the buildings to the right.

The island is a favorite area for the Japanese to picnic and especially barbecue.

The Sarushima entrance sign. Notice the monkey - we were disappointed to find out that there are actually no monkeys on Monkey Island. The name comes from a legend that a long time ago, a monk traveling to Kamakura got lost and a giant white monkey from the island showed him the way. Another variation of the story is that the monk was drowning and the monkey saved him.

                        The island has been used at various times as a fortress to protect Tokyo Bay.

                        Macie and Andrea in front of the magazine area where the explosives were stored.

                                     This a view from the island of the Yokosuka Naval Base.

               This is a view of the cranes that load and unload ships in Yokohama. They are as tall 

               as a 30 story building. I included this picture because when I walk the dogs I see these 

               cranes and they always remind me of a herd of brachiosaurus.

Mount Takatori

It is so nice to have so many outdoor activities that are easily accessible from Yokosuka - ski resorts within a couple of hours, several beaches that can be reached in 20 to 30 minutes and lots of parks and forested land to go exploring. We decided this weekend to hike the trail to Mount Takatori - right next to the Ikego Base and about 20 minutes from Yokosuka. Although we decided to drive there, we could have taken the train, then walked over the mountain and boarded a train on the other side to go back to Yokosuka (start at Jimmuji Station, head the opposite direction from Ikego, turn on the road before Zushi Junior High, the road turns into the trail, at the top of the mountain take the trail to the right (away from the temple), then you will exit the trail at Takatori Elementary school and walk about a mile to the Oppama Station).

It is always fascinating to see the Japanese touch - whether it is
 figures like those above or the signs below.

This rooster and several others were across the path from a medical center/nursing home.

Hard to tell from this photograph but the bush had very large blue flowers -
I found out that they are called Blue Hydrangea.

                             A lot of the trees had buttress roots - not sure what kind of tree it is.

                                    Macie and I were pretty peppy as we started up the hill.

                 By the time that we got to the top of the first part of the hill, we needed a break.

                             It was amazing to think how long that these steps have been used -

                             these trails have been used for hundreds of years to get to Kamakura.

     Once you reach the ridge, there is a temple on the left. As you go up the stairs, you pass through
     the area seen in the picture above. If you look closely, you can see a small box at the top of the
     steps. While we were waiting, a hiker walked up to the box, said a prayer and put a coin in the box.

     How did we know that this was temple and not a shrine? Several things - one, there was not a torii
     gate. Two, the name of the temple was Jinmu - ji (if the name ends in ji, it is probably a temple).
     Lastly, there was this:

                             

Forest Adventure - Odawara

Yesterday, Macie and I went on a school field trip to the Forest Adventure in Odawara. Odawara is about an hour and a half drive from Yokosuka. Forest Adventure is a combination zip line and ropes course with a total of 5 zip lines. The setting is very picturesque - tall pine trees, a very pretty creek, a rope bridge and a couple of parks to picnic at. Macie and I had a lot of fun - we will definitely have to go back when we can take the rest of the family.

We arrived fairly early in the morning - about 8:30. But Macie was excited and a little nervous.

It had just finished raining and you could smell the scent of pines - very calming.

             One of the interesting touches you see in Japan are the figures they make out of wood.

            The park was a combination ropes course with zip lines connecting the different obstacles.

                        Not a very photogenic picture of myself, but I wanted to include it because

                       of the Japanese instructor in the background - the peace sign and photo 

                       bombing are very common sights in Japan. 

                     I thought this was really interesting - the answer was over 300 years old.

       I am always intrigued by the signs in Japan. On the left side of the sign is nature information

       about the plants and wildlife in the area. On the right side, they show the different ways you

       can use the tree nuts to construct toys like clackers, tops and whistles. Very unique.

Afterwards, Macie and I went exploring the other parts of the park. They call this the Amazon Bridge.

      Very scenic background - hard to tell from the photograph but there is a city in the valley below.

                    

         

Dobuita Street (AKA the Honch)

We took Macie off base to get her nails done this weekend. The nail salon ended up being in the area known as the Honch. Because the Honch's wild reputation, we had not spent any time looking around that part of Yokosuka. What we discovered was that part of the Honch is located on Dobuita Street - which during the day - is a tourist destination for the Japanese.

Interesting that the banners were in English.

This is the entrance at one end of the street.

A very busy sightseeing area. I actually ended up driving down this road trying
to find the nail salon. Mona, Macie and Andrea were stressed - 
something about that I wasn't supposed to be driving down this street. 

                                    The ridiculous looking hamburger in the middle costs nearly $50.

Despite the cost, the restaurant was very busy. Notice the line to the left -
they are waiting to be seated. The restaurant is across the street.

                                  Cool storefront for a wood carving shop.
                

A bar in a building made to look like a shrine.

Interesting to see the Japanese perspective of what a country bar looks like.
I just noticed the the skull of the cow is supposed to represent Texas.

I liked the owners name of this Irish Pub.

This bar's name doesn't leave much to the imagination.

Suwa Shrine Festival

Yesterday, we went to the Suwa Shrine festival in Yokosuka. The festival was situated on Blue Street (at least that is what the Americans call it). Blue Street is the main tourist area of downtown Yokosuka. The festival had temporary food and merchandise stands that lined the entire length of Blue Street to the Yokosuka Chuo train station.  The big event for the night was the carrying of a float by several teams followed by a wagon that had people playing drums, flutes and even something that looked like a sitar.

Squid - very popular item in Japan.

Dumplings - can be prepared it a variety of flavors (notice the purple things - more squids).

Shooting gallery - just like at a county fair back home.

Andrea was determined to try the dumplings. 

This stand made bubble tea - something Andrea became obsessed with back in Texas.

Up close picture of another squid stand.

This picture didn't turn out very well but the bags are filled with 
things that have the same look, feel and texture of pork rinds.
Because they looked so good, Mona wanted so much to like these chips.
Unfortunately, they tasted very fishy - probably had squid in them.

This looked really good, boiled/steamed potatoes - notice all the fixings you can put on them.

Macie like the bananas dipped in chocolate and covered with sprinkles.

This lady was quite the showman. She couldn't speak English but got the kids to play rock,
paper or scissors. She was selling slices of pineapples on a stick for 300 yen each. If you
won the game, she would give you two sticks of pineapples. Very cute.

Again the picture isn't very good - but it shows how crowed the sidewalks were.
But we never really felt pushed or crowded by anyone

The next couple of pictures show variations on items you see a lot in Japan. 

I told Mona that these were the Japanese version of Indian Tacos that we eat in Oklahoma.

Hopefully, this video will play on your devices. It shows the teams carrying the float down the street.