Howdy. Well, this one's going to be a big one. Might take a couple of days write, even. The last month has been quite the month in terms of stuff happening. I'll just go step by step and also break down the Japan trip further to the locations we went to.
So, the end of the school year went by without much fanfare. I really can't remember if there were more field trips since the last post, I think Connor did, but Emmeline I don't think did. Yearbook signing I think was really the last thing to happen.
As you know, a couple of days after school was when we were set to leave for Japan. The Friday before, we had left for Dallas as we had a hotel right at the terminal basically. All of that went well. We saw my Mom that day as well. The day of the flight out, we had gotten boarding passes digitally. Laura had hers and Emmeline's in her phone's wallet and mine and Connor's in my Google wallet. Or so I thought. The day started off GREAT with that QR code or whatever not working at security, so we had to go to the JAL counter to get tickets printed out. Got that done and finally got through security, which was quite fast anyway since it was pretty early in the morning. It just added like 10-15 min to have to go get physical tickets. Anyway, we get through and we have a couple hour wait until we board. We do the usual stuff like eat and sit.
We board and economy wasn't so bad in reality. Laura and the kids sat together in a 3 seat configuration and I sat in the aisle across from them. I think I had pretty much the best outcome as far as the person to sit next to. He was an older teenager traveling with his family. He really just kept to himself and he only said one word during the flight and that was "Sorry" because he dropped his headphones or something on the ground. Overall, the flight was long, but it was fine. I watched several movies but didn't sleep. I don't think anyone else slept either. Maybe Laura. The food was ok. I felt stuff after the first course and the second course wasn't as enjoyable. Maybe I'll opt for the Western meal next time.
First days in Tokyo
Anywho, once we landed, it was time for immigration and customs and all that. That probably took 30 min total? I can't remember but it wasn't long. Already I think I had some Japanese understanding issue, but it went fine. Since we didn't have any checked-in bags, that helped a lot. We made ourselves over the arrival terminal and got to work getting all the stuff we needed. The wait for the JR passes was labeled as 90 minutes or something ridiculous, but it probably took 30-40 min. The kids were already tired of standing and waiting by this point. It's hard I'm sure because we're in Japan, but we really can't do much until we get all the important stuff done first and THEN we have to still head to our first hotel. Anyway, we got our passes and while we were doing that Laura had gone and exchanged the cash we brought to yen. Afterwards, we had one more thing to do and that was to get the pocket wifi from another location. Now that we got all that, it was time to head towards Shinjuku and our first hotel for the next couple of nights. Finding the train went fine and it wasn't crowded all the way to the hotel. That's what I was really afraid of since it was close to rush hour starting, although it was Sunday, which I think helped. We got on the train and navigated all right.
The hotel was fine and we got checked in around evening. We were super tired, so I think we just went to the 7-eleven close by to get some food and I may have gotten cash out of the ATM so we knew that worked, which it did. I don't think we walked anywhere that night. We just chilled and tried to get to bed.
Of course, we all woke up at like 3 in the morning and couldn't really go back to bed. We also found out that sunrise is super early in Japan for some reason at 4:30 and the curtains weren't that good to cover the light. So, we were all up at like 5 and cranky. Of course, nothing opens in Japan until like 10, so we did the best we could and left at like 8 or 9 I think to head to a shrine, park, and Harajuku for the day. Actually, that day was super busy I thought for it being the first day. After walking through the shrine, we walked down Harajuku to eat cotton candy and stuff. Afterwards, we walked back to the hotel through the park next to the shrine. We chilled in the hotel for a bit and I think we spontaneously went to the Hello Kitty cafe a couple of stations down after seeing it on YouTube. Then we came back and went to bed. I may have to start looking at photos to see what we did in what order because I really can't remember.
Next Cities
The next day, a Tuesday I think, we were headed to Matsumoto. Our initial plan was to stop by and see Saori in Chino, which is like 40 minutes from Matsumoto, but since she couldn't we chose to go straight there. This was our first longer train ride. Think it was like 2 hours or so. Oh, I think it was this morning that before we left for Matsumoto, we took a detour and checked out Hattori Hanzo's grave since it was right there. It was already getting hot, but we found it.
I can't really remember the hotel now, but I think it was a tatami style place. That night, we ate dinner, can't remember where, and then went to Matsumoto Castle at night, which was pretty cool. The next day, we had our dreaded rental car to get at 9am, I think. We got our stuff and walked about 10 minutes to a McDonald's nearby for breakfast. A few more minutes and we had our car. I was nervous, but this first drive would only be several minutes to a parking lot right next to Matsumoto Castle. Everything went ok. We went inside the castle and stuff. At this point, we had gotten a few vending machines as well.
After we were done, it was the longer 40ish min drive to Takayama, I think. I did make it, but this segment made me nervous as I didn't know it was like, up and through the mountains. There were some close calls with hitting things on the left side of the car because I still wasn't used to driving on the right and sitting on the right side. I didn't know how much room I had on the other side of the car. The car was a Corolla Touring which wasn't too big. Probably the size of a normal sedan in the states. Once we got to our hotel, there was a little hiccup in figuring out where to park, so we parked at a 7-eleven and Laura went to the hotel to check-in and the front desk person showed us where to park. Glad that was over with. This was a cool hotel as it had a bunk, but I guess our first hotel in Shinjuku, the Mimaru, had bunks too. This had a cool bathroom/shower set up that was sort of the norm in japan. It was fun to fill the tub all the way and when you got in, it spilled over. By now, it was later in the afternoon, so we walked through the food/shop street that was near our hotel. We got some stuff and on the way back, we saw a sushi bar that seemed open, so we tried to go in, but the owner was still getting ready and told us 6pm. We went back to relax for a bit and came back.
He was an older guy and he was pretty quiet at first, but after he made the sushi dinners for us, he did open up and started talking, mostly to me in Japanese. He's been there for a long time and has family around. I did enjoy talking a little even though I wasn't fully understanding everything. Up to this point, I've probably been about 80% confident in talking. There are a lot of things I remember but also a lot that I don't understand, so I sort of just wing it or assume what they might be saying. The sushi was good, though the kids didn't finish the octopus and squid and stuff. We finished and went back to the hotel.
Shirakawago
The next day, we check out and it's another 30ish minutes to our next stop Shirakawago and then a little farther to Ainokura. It was mountain driving again, but not as bad as the early segment. We stopped at the main Shirakawago village and man, that was a tourist area if I ever saw one. It was mostly rude, Southeast Asian tourists just coming and going in bus after bus. We only spent an hour or so there I think, but yeah, it was cool to see the village, but it was just way too crowded. Laura and the kids did go up to this high overlook at the mountain ridge, but I decided to stay down.
After finishing there, it was finally time to head to our next stop in Ainokura. This was the stay with the family. I was actually nervous/not looking forward to it because of shared bathrooms, etc., but it turned out pretty fun. So we got there around 2pm I think and got to the house. They weren't ready yet, so we parked in front of the house and dropped off the luggage and then explored the village a little. We went to the washi shop and after some waiting, the kids did get to quickly make some of their own washi paper. After a little more walking, we get to the house around 3:30 or so and we find out that we weren't the only ones there to stay for the night. I wasn't too happy about that possibly happening, but it was this Australian family with 2 girls about the same age as Connor and Emmeline, so I think it actually worked out pretty well. We basically sat and talked from about 4pm to dinner time which they said was around 6pm. The host was cooking the fish over a fire in the living room. Kids being kids, they were shy at first but I don't know if it was Emmeline or Connor who first started talking to them, but once that happened, they just started playing all over the house. We talked with the parents while waiting for dinner. After dinner, they all took baths but I did not. After the baths, I think we just all went to bed. I was nervous about any snoring because it was literally 2/4 rooms separated by the washi doors and you could hear everything on the other side. It went fine and the next morning, we all woke up around 7 or so and breakfast was at around 8. The Australian family was scheduled to leave around 9:30 or something via a tour bus and they were headed towards Shirakawago and we were headed towards Kanazawa. They were also heading to Tokyo Disney later on in their trip. That would have been funny if we ran into them, but obviously we were headed to Disney Sea. The kids played a little more in the morning before they left.
After they left, we gave the dreamcatcher gift that I had gotten to the hosts and they liked that. We walked a little more around the village before we departed. Unfortunately, ever since dinner the previous day, it rained and rained, so that kind of put a damper on things. I think if it wasn't raining, we could have walked around town at night more or the kids could have played in this huge field in the village, but oh well.
After getting in the car, we were off to Kanazawa.
Kanazawa and the Festival
It rained a little bit for the next day or so, but we got to Kanazawa safely. After watching the documentary around roadside stations, I tried to find a rest stop on the way to Kanazawa and we actually did stop at one, but it wasn't as good as it could have been, I don't think. Anyway, after the stop and getting something to eat, we drove into Kanazawa and parked sort of close to the next hotel we were staying at. We couldn't check in yet, so we walked around town and checked out the fish market. It was a bit crowded for my taste, but when it was finally time to check in, we went to our car, got our luggage, and headed to the hotel in the rain. Once inside, everyone was tired, so I offered to just go drop off the car and walk back. I think that was a good idea because I'm not sure if the kids would have done that without complaints. It was only 8 min or so by car but like 20-25 minutes by foot. On the way there, I missed like 3 turns so it took longer than expected and I was literally on the busiest road in downtown, or at least it felt like it, but I got it returned and walked home fine to the hotel.
Since it was raining, we did find out that the lanterns in the river part of the festival was cancelled, which was a bummer, but that day was the last of the rain for a while. That night, I was looking at some places to eat and found a shabu shabu place sort of close by so we walked to that a little after it opened. It was a smaller place, but the owner was nice and she talked to Connor a little since her favorite movie was Top Gun. The kids liked the food as well and even though we ordered way too much, we ended up finishing most of it. It was a fun dinner. Afterwards, I think we walked to the shrine that was nearby and because it was festival time, there were lots of booths and stuff open with games and street food. It wasn't as crowded as it would have been if it weren't raining, though. After looking around, I think we went back to the hotel and rested for the night.
The next day, we got an early-ish start to the festival activities and went to the castle grounds where a lot of the things were happening. Oh, I think this was the time we ate at a donut place on the way. I can't remember though. The kids played some games and we ate there as well. This was also the point where the sun came out and it was hotter than I expected and we all got sunburned pretty badly. We didn't flake or anything, but it was bad. This was also the point at which we started using umbrellas as a sun blocker. I actually liked that and I did that lot for the rest of the trip. We then headed over to Kanazawa station as that was where the festival was to begin and there was a taiko performance there as well. This was probably the worst part of the festival, however, because, man, as we got closer to the station it got so crowded, we just stood by the sidewalk and we couldn't move, literally. The kids couldn't see anything and I couldn't either, really. After the initial taiko performance finished, we decided to walk back to the hotel as the festival was supposed to go by there. After a grumpy walk, we got to the hotel and funnily enough, the first part of the festival was literally crossing right across from the entrance of our hotel, so we sat there and watched most of the parade. There was plenty of seating. We should have just did that from the start. I actually enjoyed it as bands played some iconic songs, etc.
I can't remember what we did for dinner that night. We must have gone out, but I can't remember where or what we ate. I think, oh, we went back out for the night activities at the castle ground and walked through a lot of the booths again on the way. It was super crowded this time and of course we got to the castle grounds when all but 1 or 2 of the food shops were closing up. We luckily were able to get some food before they closed and we watched a couple weird shows and then decided to walk back to the hotel via the lit up garden or something. I think this was the place we checked out one of the most beautiful gardens in the world, apparently. I think it was here, at least. This was our last night in Kanazawa.
Kyoto
We had another long train ride from Kanazawa to Kyoto. Getting to our next hotel was a little harder than just arriving at the main station as well. We had to take a couple of smaller trains as it was far from the station, but also because those smaller trains didn't take the JR pass. Now that I think about it, I can't remember when we got our Suica cards, which were essentially debit cards that you can charge and can pay train and bus prices, etc. Come to think of it, we may have gotten it at Kyoto station. I remember that we had to go into a JR office to get the kids' ones, but, I really can't remember.
So, we get into Kyoto - I can't remember what we did or if we came into the city right at check-in time, but we found our hotel and got checked in. This was a cool hotel because we had gotten the top floor and it was basically 2 rooms turned into 1. It was huge and there was an outside bath where we could fill it up all the way as well. One of our best hotels, if not the best.
I think our first night, we had decided to do one of the famous shrines with lots of torii gates. That was a good idea because it wasn't crowded at all and it was cool. If we had done it the next day, it would have been so hot and crowded, we wouldn't have enjoyed it at all. I really can't remember what we did for dinner that day, because it was dark already when we came down from the shrine, so it could be that we did that after dinner...but that wouldn't make sense either. Really can't remember.
The next day, I think we did a quick detour to see the 2 Nintendo headquarters. Basically a white building with the word Nintendo on it. Well, one of them wasn't a headquarter but the old building where Nintendo started their business selling playing cards. After that bit of nostalgia, we went to the main shopping area right near our hotel and got some dessert to bring home to eat. This day is totally lost in my memory. Kyoto was also the place where we did a samurai museum, so that was part of it on one of those days as well. Laura will have to straighten out all that happened, but it's bits and pieces to me.
I mean, we spent 3 nights there, so we did a lot, lol. Afterwards, it was off to Hiroshima and Miyajima.
Hiroshima and Miyajima
This train ride was our first shinkansen ride. By now, we were pretty good with the JR pass, but I think shinkansens confused me because of how to gates worked and stuff. We have both the JR pass and shinkansen tickets, sometimes 2. Then we had to put them both through the ticket machine at the same time and stuff. The other big thing that I never understood was a couple of times, the ticket gate wouldn't open for us because something went wonky with our entries and exits with our tickets. Like, I thought I had it figured out at one point, that shinkansen gates are different from JR/station gates, but there were a couple of times where we went from shinkansen to a normal train without leaving the shinkansen area and everything worked, so I never figured it out.
Anyway, we took the train to Hiroshima, then took a bus to the peace memorial park, put our stuff in lockers, and then toured the museum. It was funny because we had big backpacks and there were no lockers left, so we were dreading carrying it, but then Emmeline had walked off and around the corner into a room and she was like, "There are tons more here for bigger luggage!" and saved the day. After the museum which I can't remember if I did or not the last time I came here with Brian (I don't think I did), we talked around to the dome area. After, we got our luggage and then took the ferry from the park to Miyajima island. That was a 40ish minute ride.
It was touristy on the island, but as the day went one, the day trippers left and we were staying 1 night at a very expensive hotel. Laura was bummed that because they were short staffed, we couldn't get the in-room kaiseki experience that we hoped for, but it was all right. I feel like I should have asked if we could get the regular room rate because really the only reason we paid way more for this one cottage was because we could eat dinner in the cottage. Without it, it was basically a normal cottage. Laura and the kids went to the huge torii gate again while I rested at the cottage. Although, people kept coming in and out setting up the futons and stuff. Laura loved the experience there, but I didn't see anything special about it. The cottage wasn't the best as it didn't have a shower or bath and stuff. I think it was a little overpriced. This was also the first place where we saw deer just walking around.
Osaka
So next was Osaka. I was nervous about the travel for this one because I realized that we would be arriving at one of the busiest stations right at rush hour. We actually talked about if it was busy that we'll take a taxi to our hotel.
It was another shinkansen ride after taking the ferry to the Hiroshima station. We got our bento boxes and were on our way. If we had left early in the morning, we would have been able to catch the Hello Kitty special shinkansen to Osaka, but we went to Mt. Misen so we could. Oh, right, after we checked out, we went straight to Mt. Misen to use the cable car close to the summit and then walked 30 minutes or so to the top. It was okay. It was cloudy so we couldn't see too far, but it was raining a little bit, so it was cooler than it would have been. We had gotten a round trip cable car so we took it back down as well. In hindsight, I don't think we would have made it back all the way down walking. We were already tired walking to the summit and the kids, namely Connor and his horrible walking and leading, wouldn't have made it. So, back to the shinkansen ride. It was fine and once we got to the station at Osaka, we had to take a metro line to the other station by our apartment.
So this hotel was really close to the famous Dotonbori street with street food and such, so the location was great. Unfortunately, it was raining the first night so the ferris wheel was closed. And then the next day was Friday, which is the day the ferris wheel is normally closed, so needless to say, we didn't get to do the ferris wheel. It was fun to walk around, though. We had some ramen for dinner and then went to Round 1 since it was right next to our hotel. I was able to get a couple of things from the claw games and went back home.
The next day we were doing a day trip to Nara. We got there and on the way, there was a 7-eleven that sold sub-zero coke that became a slushie if you did it right. We tried it on the way up but it didn't work so we said we'd try again on the way back. At Nara, the deer were everywhere. We got some deer snacks and everyone except me fed the deer. It was interesting that the deer have learned to bow to get food, probably because Japanese people bow to them, I guess. We then headed to this shrine right next to the park that had one of the biggest Buddhist temples and Buddhas and that was actually pretty cool. Probably my favorite temple we went to. Connor climbed through this hole that represented how big the nostril of the Buddha was. It was hard to get on pictures how big this Buddha and temple was. I can't remember now why Emmeline didn't do the nostril thing, but I think actually at this point, Emmeline was starting to or was sick with a little cold or something so she wasn't feeling too well. More on that later.
After the temple, we got some Western style lunch and then went through the park once more to feed the deer on the way back. That's when one of the deer got a little aggressive and bit Emmeline on her upper arm. Hard enough that it left a bruise and cut skin. She was upset and I was worried she might get some kind of disease, but it turned out okay. Once we got home, we headed over to the Dotonbori street again. I can't remember what we ate once again, but I think we went to Round 1 again as well.
Nikko
The next day was check out day and we were headed to Nikko. It was a long travel day with multiple shinkansens. At this point was probably when I started to feel really tired during the trip. It's been a busy 2 weeks and we still had a few more days left. When we arrived at Nikko, we actually decided to take a taxi to our hotel. It was reasonable and much faster than the bus. At the hotel, we got checked in and then almost immediately, I smelled this weird gas smell near my bed. I didn't say anything at first but mentioned it again near dinner time. It actually gave me a little headache and we were freaking out sleeping in this situation. We didn't say anything, but opened all the windows a little. The thing is, I think I saw on our 2nd day that there was some kind of heater/AC thing right outside the window that I think was creating the smell.
Anyway, the first day, it was raining again, but we went to the little Jizo area near our hotel. Wasn't crowded at all because it was out of the way from the main part of town and it was raining. Afterwards, we found one of the 2 open restaurants before it closed and had dinner. It was a weird cafe, but it was good.
The next day, we went to a big shrine of the famous Tokugawa Iyeyasu. This was about the time Connor and I were at our throats because of his mannerisms and also because he was on his way to getting sick. Laura had worn sandals and there was a section of lots of steps and on the way down, she fell and hurt her back, luckily not too bad. Once we got home, Connor and I went to get dinner at the 24-hour Lawsons, where we saw a Japanese biker gang come in right as we were about to check out. Once home, Connor started shivering and he was officially sick. That night, I fell asleep for like 30 minutes and when I woke up, man, my throat hurt. It was crazy how fast it turned that way. And so, now, I was sick.
The next morning, we checked out and took a taxi to the station. Connor and I rested there while Laura and Emmeline, who was totally fine now, shopped around. Connor and I both had waves of feeling fine and feeling cold and crappy during the day for the next few days. We got on the train around noon and then traveled back to our last few days in Tokyo, in Asakusa.
Asakusa and Home
This stretch was also an annoying travel segment because of so many transfers and the inability to use JR trains around the hotel we were trying to get to. That means we had to use this horrible Ginza line that wasn't as ideal. We finally managed to get to the hotel, another Mimaru and rested. Today was also the day that my friend Jesse from HS messaged me back and said he could possible meet up tonight. I was in a predicament because I was on and off feeling like crap and I didn't want to overdue it since tomorrow was Disney Sea day. In the end, I did end up meeting up with him just outside the hotel at like 8pm for about an hour. It was good to talk to him. He seems to be doing all right. Was different than what he looked like in HS.
The next day wad Disney Sea. Now, I can't remember if it was that night or the night after that I just kept sweating and sweating through the night and I would have to change clothes and even try to dry my clothes with a hair dryer until Laura finally woke up and found more clothes for me. I still sweat. I thought I was finally breaking my fever, but no, I had many more days of it.
So, after some deliberation, we decided that all of us would go to Disney Sea and Connor and I would leave early if we started to feel bad. Now, the morning started off a little bad to begin with. We left a little later than our planned time. That was okay, but that meant we hit the trains we needed to hit right at rush hour during the week day. Our first train ride was horrible. It was literally a step away from the sardine-packed trains that we saw on YouTube. All of us were smooshed and we had a few stops to go through. We finally get through to our transfer and we were actually confused if it was the actual train, but it turned out to be the right one and we were finally on our way to Disney. I didn't realize it was so far out from where we were.
Once we got there, I was feeling meh and was feeling meh for the entire time there. We started towards the first ride that we wanted to do. I think it was 20000 leagues or something. We did get a fast pass thing for Soarin'. I chose not to since I've already done it before. I just wanted Laura to do it. After 20000 leagues, we headed over to Journey to the Center of the Earth. It said it was a 50-minute wait, which wasn't TOO bad, but oh well. Better than the 2.5 hours wait times that some of the rides have sometimes. We did the ride and the last bit was unexpected and Emmeline I don't think was expecting it either and she cried. Then they did Soarin' while I sat and waited. Afterwards, we got a little lunch from where we could find any, which was basically this weird naan thing that Connor didn't eat. I was hoping for a sit down restaurant but the kids wouldn't eat any of it and the western style foods were in a place near the entrance. We then did this weird Aladdin magic show. I'm sure the family didn't know what they were saying, but if they understood, it was pretty funny. After that, we hit up Indiana Jones as the last ride for Connor and I. Wait was like 30-40 minutes again, but Emmeline cried again. It wasn't even that bad of a ride either. Connor freaked out saying he was gonna throw up in line after he took an ibuprofen, but he didn't. After the ride, Connor and I had to deal with an hour trek back and we were both annoyed at each other and not feeling well.
We made it back to our hotel around 3:30 or so and got some food to eat then pretty much crashed until Laura and Emmeline came home, which was like 9:15 or something. They stayed and watched the night show and left. She didn't end up doing Tower of Terror, but that's okay.
The next day, we had a meeting with Saori at around 10am, but we all were tired and sick and woke up at around 8 or 8:30, can't remember. It was a 40-minute train ride to Harajuku station, so we actually didn't have too much time in the morning to relax or even get packed up at a slow pace. Since it was our last night and we were checking out the next day, I was hurriedly trying to figure out the best way to go about this, with our luggage and all. We decided since it was a better route to the station near our last hotel from Shibuya, we found coin lockers there and took a quick train to Harajuku. We met Saori, went to a cafe, unexpectedly got glasses for Connor since they were super cheap, and then walked around and had Kura sushi for lunch. It was fun. We exchanged our gifts - we had gotten some dreamcatchers for their family and she had gotten me 4 rolls of 5 yen coins, which was a huge help.
After lunch, we grabbed our bags and headed to our hotel. It was crowded and after checking in, we had our last ramen at a shop near the hotel. It was good, but keep in mind that Connor and I were still sick.
Flying Back Home
So the last day finally came. We had all our luggage and we were ready to go. The night went okay. Since it was a close hotel, I couldn't find a room with 4 beds, so it was 2 Kings. They may have been Queens, but I don't think so as they were quite big. Laura was with Connor and I was with Emmeline. I was against the wall most of the night, so it wasn't bad, but she did try to kick a couple of times.
The shuttle ride to the terminal was fine. We missed the cool 2nd and 3rd floors at Haneda, but oh well. We checked out the business class lounge, but it wasn't as cool as we had hoped. We ate and waited until our boarding.
Now, the business class seats were...I dunno. Underwhelming. Yes, it was nice to be able to lean back if you wanted, but there was like, too much service on the JAL planes. I don't think I could have ever reclined it flat and went to sleep. I'm glad that we got the opportunity to use it, but it was a different experience than what I had in mind. Connor and Emmeline liked it, though, I think. He got like 2 ice creams and when he tried to do a 3rd, they said something I couldn't understand and said they couldn't, so. I think either they ran out or hit a limit.
Home
I'm missing a lot of stuff and I'll add things here and there as I remember them, but after we got home, we still had the 3 hour ride back home. We skipped visiting my Mom because 1) we were tired and 2) we were sick. We got home, got Libby, and the next day, I took Connor to the doctor to see if it was strep. He was negative for everything, which I thought was weird and he was embarrassing because he said he felt fine and he wasn't sure why we went. Jerk. I was sick, so I dropped him off and went to urgent care. I was also negative for everything, but my throat was hurting so bad, they gave me antibiotics. For the next couple of days I rested. Finally better, but I don't feel 100% for some reason. I still have a weird sniffle.
Now, Connor is at a boy scout Summer camp for a week in Colorado. Emmeline has tennis next week, but that's it for now. Taking it easy. I'm so tired and I haven't been rested in a long time. It was a great trip overall. I do miss some things about Japan already, but I also am glad to be back with certain amenities. People were much nicer in Japan, especially retail workers.
Oh, how could I forget. So while I was sick, this crazy windstorm came through OK and the power was out for like 10 hours at our house. That was just long enough to ruin most of the groceries that we got literally the day before. Bummer. We found out that Tulsa was hit way harder and there are still a good chunk of people that are without power there. When this happened, Laura's parents were on their way back from Colorado visiting Ellen. They stopped by here for a night, then went home to assess the situation and then they came back to stay until the power came back for them on Thursday I think. That's a long time. Laura just said that they lost power again for some reason, so that sucks. Laura and Emmeline went to Tulsa today to swim.
I've got more to write, but I'm tired of writing, so I'll come back maybe tomorrow.