A trip to northern Japan via the bullet train!

One Navy Ball was not enough! We attended ours in Atsugi on Thursday night and then headed north for the event in Misawa the next day.  Admiral Carter was the guest speaker at this second event so he and his wife Julie flew up with Gary, and I volunteered to bring Casey and their kids up on the train.  It seemed like a great idea.  It would be cooler in Misawa and maybe we could see some fall leaves.  I love these kids and knew they would be no problem but I underestimated the challenge of figuring out train connections.  We were all over the place in Tokyo trying to make our train and ended up missing the final train by 3 minutes.  Due to the amazing kindness of the ticket agent I happened to turn to crying, we were able to rebook on a train that left an hour later. The difference between a train and a plane (besides the obvious goes in the air part) is that someone looks at your ticket on an airplane and confirms that you are in the right place.  Train travel means you are more than welcome to get on a train going the wrong direction and pay more to get yourself where you need to be! Well, we made it and the kids rolled with it all just fine.  On the train I had a fun meal; it was a beef and rice bowl.  You pull a sring and it begins to heat up.  The box steams and you can see from the picture the price tag actually turned brown!  The tray table also got very warm so I don't think there is a market for these products in America.  Someone would sue.

The train goes so fast but you can't really feel how fast it is going.  I was able to download an app that is a speedometer.  This is a screen shot of how many miles per hour we were going!

When we got to Misawa we were not disappointed.  It was green and beautiful.  We spent one day driving to Lake Towada and enjoyed the journey every minute of the way. It was a winding road with the beginning of fall leaves and waterfalls every mile or two.   

We stopped at a local fruit stand where we could buy mushrooms still on a log, garlic, pears, apples and plums.  We tried a mochi on a stick treat that was ok but so cool to see being made.  Later we stopped at Nicco Cakes to bring a treat to our friends the Wrights, who live in Misawa and had us all over their house for dinner. As we were driving that day we saw small wheat looking tee pees in fields. LuAnn Wright told us over dinner, she had just gone on a field trip with her son and we found out that is how they harvest the rice! Each child was given a sharp scythe and was able to participate in the harvesting of rice. (Both of her sons are under 10....a sharp tool seems dangerous but all survived.)

The next day, after a fantastic brunch, we headed to Shipwreck Beach.  It is called that because there are many old wrecks up on the sand.  We were on a bay that opens up to the Sea of Japan. I really wanted to go here because I have heard you can find glass fishing balls that were used as floats by Japanese fisherman before they used plastic.  We found none but had a blast exploring the beach and finding cool rocks. Casey and her friend Mary took about 12 million pictures and they can be found on Instagram if you are followers!

It was a great first trip and one I hope to do again before too long!  Near that area they have hot springs and wild monkeys that sometimes sit in them!  That is worth a trip right there.  Monkeys in a hot spring!

Cars in Japan - funny names and customs

Sorry for the absence from the bloggosphere, but we received our household goods! Great news, but it means more time spent unpacking and less time exploring.  I promise my next blog will include something about our house on base!  It is finally starting to look like a home.

In the meantime, here's something interesting and unique to Japan. 
Most of the car names we have seen are verbs:
A Spike, a Scrum, and a March ...

We have seen a Note, a Dunk, and a Move

How about a Logo, a Vitz (which means joke in German) , and a Joy?

But none of these can compare to THE CHODE! 

Now if anyone has a clue what that means, please let me know!  And why do you think the Japanese want English words (odd English words) to describe their cars?  The car I am wanting is called a Moco and it is so cute!  It looks kind of like a square shaped bug.  Our current car, a Honda CRV, is great and runs well but as it gets colder and the rainy season begins, I think we need two cars.  

Interesting things to note are that the Japanese people all back into parking spots.  They are good at it and parking is fast for them.  The cars have a button that retracts the side mirrors and cars are usually parked all tucked in. I also love the unique way they have found to park with limited space.  They have parking  that is like a car elevator.  A car goes on and rises up and another car parks underneath. 

Finally, I saw this guy in a parking garage and had to take a picture.  Why a person would want it to look like they were in the drivers seat I don't know.  They don't have car pool lanes but this image would fool many in the states!

Stay tuned for another update soon.  On my next blog I will give you a tour of our home and a glimpse of what is now our normal life in Atsugi.