Herg B & B: August to October

One of the scariest things about moving to the other side of the world was wondering if we would be lonely or whether there would be long stretches of time between visits with loved ones. Thanks to some very special loved ones willing to make the arduous journey up to Misawa, neither of these worries became realities. We have been fortunate to host numerous visitors and have loved our time with each of them.

Our first visitor was Pop Pop H! We got really lucky that he had to start coming to Tokyo for business. After a week in Tokyo for work, he made his way up to Misawa for a weekend visit. On our first day out and about, we tried to take Big Jer on a drive through the Oirase Gorge, but the road was closed due to flooding. Instead, we ended up making our way to the Hakkoda mountains and took the ropeway up to the top. This was a very stressful experience for Jerry as he is afraid of heights, but he hung in there- just kept his eyes closed and his head down for most of it! Sadly, it turned out torturing him with heights wasn't even worth it! While it had been a beautiful day at the bottom of the mountain, it was a different story at the top. It was cold, foggy, and very windy! We zipped around the walking path at the top pretty quickly, then made our way back down. Jerry was thrilled that we did two of his favorite activities...heights and hiking, but he was a good sport and didn't hold it against us. He even treated us to beers and snacks at the Oirase Brewery on the way home.

Sulfur lake on the way to Hakkoda

We were supposed to visit the Misawa Summer festival that night to show Jerry a little bit of culture and get our dinner from the food vendors. Unfortunately, we got back later than expected and were all pretty tired. We opted to pizza and beer at home. Sarah and Keenan joined us and had a chance to meet Big Jer: the man, the myth, the legend...

The next day we drove along the coast to the Tanesashi Beach, which is a grassy beach alongside some neat rock formations. On our way to the beach, we made a stop at a shrine that is supposed to be completely overrun by Seagulls. Unfortunately (or fortunately since we didn't end up getting pooped on), we hit "Seagull Shrine" during a part of their migration pattern where they are away from the shrine...not a gull in sight! Regardless, it was cool to walk up to the shrine and take a look. We were treated to a great view of Hachinohe. It was a gorgeous day to stroll around Tanesashi. We had lunch at a little cafe and then got apple ice cream cones to eat while walked off our lunch.

Yoshino's

That night, we went to a popular (and a little fancier than most of the restaurants in Misawa)  steakhouse for dinner. It is called Yoshino's and is what we would call a hibachi style restaurant minus a lot of the theatrics. They serve shrimp, but they do not toss it across the room for you to catch with your mouth. This was Eric's and my first time at Yoshino's and we very much enjoyed the experience!

Jerry's visit was short but sweet! He was off on a plane back to the states the next day. Not long after he left, we had the pleasure of having Anna and John join us in Misawa for a long weekend. I reminisced about their visit here, but I will say it again and again: we loved having them here with us and did not want to see them go!

Lourdes arrived in September. I met her in Tokyo (Eric was traveling for work) and we had a whirlwind of a few days there. We packed in as much as we possibly could! We kicked off our time in Tokyo with a rickshaw ride through Asakusa. We had a great driver who adored little Bean...she played hard to get, but eventually warmed up to him as well. Lourdes and I did many of the things Eric and I had done in Tokyo the previous year to include: Senso-Ji Temple, the 8th floor (free) observation deck in Asakusa (which is a great bird's eye view of the approach to Senso-Ji and the river), the river cruise on the Sumida, Hama-rikyu Garden, Meiji Jingu Shrine, and walking around Shibuya (the crosswalk, Omotesando, and Harajuku), and Ginza. You can read more about these places here.

Hama-rikyu Garden 

Koi pond in Imperial Garden

Not included in this blog entry: the tale of my epic journey to Tokyo with Bean... let's just say that I needed room service pizza & beer as badly and as quickly as Bean needed to stretch out and roll around. 

45th floor!

I also added a few things to our Tokyo itinerary that I had not done before. First of all, we stayed at the New Sanno Hotel, which is a hotel for service members and their dependents. We had an excellent experience there. It is conveniently located and very comfortable. The rooms are American sized, which was great since Lourdes, Bean, and I were bunking together. We visited the Imperial Palace, which really just meant visiting the garden as no one is permitted to enter the actual royal residence. It took us two attempts to actually see the gardens (we got their after is closed the first time). The gardens were beautiful and the weather was really nice if not a little hot. The last "new" Tokyo experience for me was visiting the 45th floor observation deck in the government building in Shinjuku. Man, was it a hike to get there from the subway, but it was well worth it! Really cool views of the city at night! Our time in Tokyo (as usual) was peppered with great meals at little places we just happened to stumble upon. We had a wonderful time there.

When we returned to Misawa (we took the Shinkansen or "bullet train" back so Lourdes could experience that as well- it is clean, comfortable, roomy, and fast), our pace slowed quite a bit. Bean needed a few days weeks to recuperate. We were also kind of waiting on Eric to get back from his trip... even though we moved at a slower pace, we still managed to show Lourdes quite a bit. We visited the Fish Market in Hachinohe, Tanesashi Beach, and a town near Lake Towada. We hiked a portion of the Oirase Gorge, looked for sea glass and floats on local beaches and on a beach we Americans call "Shipwreck Beach," which is about an hour away. Our biggest trip while she was in Northern Japan was to Osorezan, which I talk about in much more detail here.

At luncheon after golf

Lourdes accompanied me to one of my preschool classes to watch me teach English. She also joined me on a spouse's outing where we played a version of mini golf and enjoyed a lovely and delicious luncheon with a Misawa women's group. Lourdes took regular walks around base with Bean and enjoyed a lovely dinner at Yoshino's with Eric. She really enjoyed Japan and was already thinking about her next trip before she was gone! We can't wait to have her here again!

Oirase Gorge

Tanesashi Beach

Yoshino's night!

We had just about enough time to change the sheets and clean the house before my great aunt and uncle paid us a visit! They were visiting Tokyo (as they had lived there for three years...in the 70s...I believe...) and graciously decided to make the trek up to Misawa to see us. They have seen a lot of Japan, but this was their first time this far north. They, too, were just here for a long weekend so we tried to show them some highlights.

I must say that Eric and I are going to get a reputation for torturing people who fear heights with heights. We wanted to drive Vince and Gayle through the Oirase gorge up to Lake Towada because the weekend they were here was supposed to be the peak weekend to see the changing autumn foliage. However, because it was the peak weekend, the road through the gorge was closed to POVs (open only to walkers). Gayle was having problems with her foot and was unable to walk long distances, so we decided  to try a different route to the Lake.

I should back up and say that when we first mentioned "gorge," uncle Vince and hemmed and hawed a little because he really does not enjoy heights. We assured him that the road through the gorge went through the bottom of the gorge so you are mostly looking up and not down...well, the alternate route to Lake Towada was definitely higher up and much....cliffier...for lack of a better term. Uncle Vince held on tight and gritted his teeth up down to the lake.

Once there, we enjoyed a lovely lunch and a walk through the town and along the lake where we got some beautiful views of the changing leaves. On the way home, we stuck Vince in the corner of the car where he would have the fewest views of the abyss...and he was just fine!

This was the second time we were fortunate enough to share a long weekend with Vince and Gayle. They hosted us a few years back in Tulsa and now we have had the opportunity to host them in our home. We so love our time with them. They have wonderful stories and we always share a lot of laughs. On this visit, we laughed especially hard about uncle Vince's love of the band Weezer (please forgive me for including an inside joke...this had to be written).

Long story short, from August to October, we ate well, drank well, and stayed really busy! It was a fabulous few months!

The Bean turns ONE!!!

We had a little (very little) first birthday party for the Bean! My mom & dad were in town and we invited some of Bean's nearest and dearest.

My mom and I made these adorable cupcakes

The white fish had one candle in it for the birthday girl! 

The birthday Bean wore (at least long enough to snap this photo) this beautiful outfit (dress made by grandma, headband by aunt Gigi)

"I'm one!"

"But I don't want to be a princess!"

The extent of her cake smashing/eating.

Mom and Dad tried to encourage some cake play. Bean said, "forget the cake! Back to my pacifier!" 

We ate lasagna and salad for dinner & fresh strawberry cupcakes for dessert. Bean only took one taste of frosting, but didn't go hungry because she explored each and every one of her lovely gifts with her mouth. A wonderful time was had by all and Bean felt very special on her big day. 

The 7th Inning and a Cloudy Crater

We went to our first (and hopefully not our last) Japanese (major league equivalent) baseball game at the end of August. The closest city with a team, the Tohoku Rakuten "Golden Eagles," is Sendai, which is fourish hours away from Misawa. Eric, Bean, and I met Keenan, Sarah, and her parents in Sendai on a Friday night. When we planned to spend only one night in Sendai, we hoped to have at least part of Friday day to see some sites. Unfortunately, when we planned the trip, I forgot to take into account that I teach a preschool class on Friday mornings, and we were unable to leave Misawa until after noon. By the time we arrived in Sendai, we only had time to drop our bags in our hotel room and make our way to the ball park!

Bean's first game!

The atmosphere at the park was familiar and very similar to games we have been to at home. Crowds, concessions, plushy mascots, music, crappy (but delicious) food, and, of course, beer! Though, regarding beer, one major difference is that it is sold exclusively by women who run up and down the stairs with keg backpacks resembling rocket packs. There were even some familiar faces on the Eagles roster: Andruw Jones and Kevin Youkilis proudly wear Eagles gold (and red)!

Fried chicken & chopsticks!

Go go gadget rocket pack!

Think we could sell a Bean fathead?

I am not sure Bean loved baseball, but she certainly loved the excitement of the stadium. She happily bounced on our laps taking it all in and hooted and hollered along with the best of them! It got later and later and she just kept partying on. You know how some kids are lulled to sleep by the hum of a crowd, or just become so tired they can no longer keep their eyes open? Well, this kid is not that kid. I have only seen her eyes get so heavy she passes out once...okay twice, but it is rare! When the Bean gets really tired, she becomes hyper-vigilant. She was exhausted and up WAAAAY past her bedtime (6pm), but she was completely overstimulated by the sites and sounds. Eventually I covered her head with a blanket and she zonked out within seconds. She only power napped, but it allowed her to make to to the Japanese version of the "seventh inning stretch."

You are getting sleepy...

A very curious thing happens during the seventh inning. First, the opposing team's fans inflate interestingly shaped, um, oblong (?) balloons, sing their fight song, and release them into the air. Then, the home team's fans performs their song and dance; though, with much more gusto, of course, being that they are the home team! Lucky for you, Sarah took a video because there is no real way to describe it with words. It's a kind of "you had to be there" experience, but one that is utterly amazing, wonderful, and hilarious to be a part of. Please enjoy this clip from her video!

"Tee hee" -Eric

The Eagles game was one of our favorite nights in Japan thus far. It was a vivacious, fun, and festive party and we got to share it with good friends and good friends' family. We can't remember if the Eagles won or lost that night. But that is never really the point, is it?

Bean didn't have time to pose for pictures, she was too busy charming the crowd...per usual.

After the game, we returned to the hotel for the first of (as it turns out) many hotel room parties with Sarah and Keenan before hitting the hay.

I should note that almost all of the baseball pictures we taken by Sarah. Sarah, thank you for documenting my life along with yours!

The bulk of the following day was spent taking a trip to see Mount Zao, a volcano about an hour southwest of Sendai.

You can see on the map to the left where Zao is-ish. All of my maps are "ish" maps because I make them on a screenshot in Microsoft Paint and do my best to eyeball the locations after looking at the coordinates on a real map. I am sure there is a fancy, more accurate (and much easier) way to do this, but I am computer illiterate, so until someone teaches me a magic trick, I will spend WAY too much time making inaccurate maps.

Anywho! The volcano, Zao, is a bad ass mother. It is the most active volcano on northern Honshu island. It has a beautiful crater lake called Okama, which was formed by a volcanic eruption in the 1720s. The lake is also known as, "Five Color Pond" because it is known to change color depending on the weather. Now let me tell you about some weather...

You can drive all the way up to the crater of Zao, and when we arrived, I could barely see my hand outstretched in front of me. It was cold and wet and insanely foggy. Not anything close to ideal crater lake-viewing weather conditions!

We marched around the observation area craning our necks, standing on fences, rocks, eachother (no, not really), anything we possible could to try to get a glimpse of the lake through the clouds. It was looking pretty grim and we were all feeling rather disappointed. Then, the clouds parted briefly, and the crowd collectively rubbed our eyes and blinked trying to figure out whether we had actually seen what we thought we had seen. Then it happened again, and again. Then, the clouds cleared for a miraculous fifteen to twenty minutes, revealing a breathtaking landscape that none of us had previously known existed. It was rugged, and ominous, and threatening, and beautiful. That day, the lake was a teal green color. I don't know if that counts for one or two of the five colors.

I caught them frolicking!

We snapped pictures as fast as we could and frolicked gleefully about the edge of the crater. We could not believe our luck. The lake was gone almost as fast as it appeared. The clouds returned and so did the wet. We spent the rest of our time at Zao exploring a shrine at the peak of the mountain before ducking into a visitors center for a snack and to warm up.

Eric, Bean, and I started the long trip back to Misawa (she cried...a lot) after Zao. Sarah and her family went on to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience at a Kokeshi doll museum they spotted off the side of the road. I opted not to go in because Bean had fallen asleep and I didn't want to wake her...I do not regret that decision, I do not regret that decision, I do not regret that decision....le sigh.

But in all honesty, this was not our best planned trip. We could have used a second night in the hotel and could have definitely spent more time exploring Sendai and the surrounding area. Coulda, shoulda, woulda... We still need to see Matsushima Bay and hit up IKEA. Lots and lots to do to justify a Sendai Part II. Stay tuned.