American Day

For the past 24 years, the Misawa community has celebrated "American Day." It is held right outside of the main gate of the Air Base, and consists of a parade, live music, activities, and booths selling various American food items (turkey legs, chocolate cake, Starbucks bottled drinks, funnel cake, etc.) and souvenirs. This year (and perhaps every year) each booth represents a state in the U.S. I couldn't find the Iowa booth, but that doesn't mean it wasn't there. Americans proudly wore their home state attire and it felt a bit like being at a small, multi-state fair. I was surprised at how nice it was to experience a little slice of America on a Sunday morning.

Komaki Onsen and Park

This weekend we visited one of the seven hot spring baths in Misawa, Komaki Onsen. The onsen consisted of two indoor hot pools, a sauna, as well as one cold outdoor pool (and I mean ice cold) and one hot outdoor pool. The outdoor pools overlook a serene alcove of trees surrounding a waterfall, and a pond filled with coy fish that swim right up to the edge of the pool. For me, the scenery was equally as relaxing as soaking in the baths themselves. Unfortunately for blogging purposes (and fortunately for bathers), photography is not allowed inside the onsen. We did, however, get some photos of the beautiful park that is located near the onsen. We will definitely have to come back another time to get some family pictures.

Mt. Hakkoda

On Saturday, we drove about 1.5 hours with friends check out the Mt. Hakkoda mountain range, consisting of more than ten peaks just north of Towada Hachimantai National Park. After a beautiful, winding drive through the National Park, we arrived at the Hakkoda Ropeway. The gondola ride up to Mt. Tamoyachidake provided some beautiful views of this lush mountain range.

In winter, this peak is the starting point for several ski runs. This area is also known for "snow monsters" that appear when ice and snow completely cover the dense-leaved conifers.

The date: June 11, 2011

Once we reached the summit, we set out on an hour long hike on the Tamoyachidake natural trail, and were surprised to find a mix of winter and spring.

Snow in June!

Other than a few thick patches of snow, the trail was pretty easy to traverse; however, these mini bridges proved to be a bit treacherous for the little ones we were hiking with.

Wetlands

Despite all of the snow on the ground, the air temperature was very pleasant. It was a great day for a hike!

Nango Town Peony Festival

This weekend, we drove about an hour to Nango Town with friends to check out a festival at Hase Peony Garden. We were very surprised to find that the peony garden is actually located on the side of a mountain, which made for a very unique way to view some 8,000 peonies. The pictures don't begin to do justice to the scenery or fragrance that we enjoyed on this warm, hazy day.

Peony plants for sale: 1,000 yen (a little more than $12)

An Apple a Day

You know it's expensive when produce is individually bubble wrapped. At $2.84 a piece, one of these Mutsu apples a day would certainly add up. Although you can't tell from my picture, it was about the size of a grapefruit. It was good, but I actually prefer the more modestly priced Johnagold variety (still not cheap at over $1 a piece), followed by the Fuji apple. From what I understand, there is an embargo on apples in Japan (potatoes, too). That means that only Japanese grown apples are sold in Japan. And we don't get the sweet potatoes/yams we're used to in the states. This isn't a huge deal, except that the apples are expensive out of season, and I haven't found one that tastes enough like Granny Smith.

Other random produce fact, I saw a small watermelon (a little bit bigger than a average sized cantaloupe) for sale at the Japanese grocery store for about 1900 yen, or nearly $24. I haven't bought a watermelon in the states for some time, but I really don't remember them being that expensive.

Updates!

We've finally completed the following blog posts:

Earthquake, Tsunami, and Aftermath

Thailand

Lake Towada - Oide Campsite

Over Memorial Day weekend, we met a group of friends at Oide Campsite on Lake Towada. Although there wasn't much sun, we enjoyed spending the day listening to music, playing volleyball, roasting marshmallows, and hanging out with friends. The scenery was beautiful. Here are some photos of the campsite and nearby Lake Towada.

We were surprised to see these cherry blossoms still in bloom, since they have been gone for at least a couple of weeks in Misawa...