So, back in March we made the difficult decision for me to move back to Washington into my parents house. My Mom was needing to move into an independent living facility, we had hoped she would be fine until our return in 2021 but caring for a house and yard was just too much for her. We wanted to have the house to live in when we returned from Japan, until we retire as we don’t plan to stay in Mason County so do not want to buy a house here. So, we trekked home and made the move for her and began the huge task of cleaning out 60 years of accumulated treasures. Glen was here for a couple weeks and worked like a rented mule! We got Mom settled in her new place just before the country shut down with the covid 19 pandemic. Glen left for Japan and I stayed and have been trying to make the house a home for us. I went back to work for the government, at NAVFAC in Bremerton on Naval Base Kitsap. I work in the transportation department with some great people. Fun fact, I went to work in the same building I was working in 30 years ago when I left government work (dumb move!). I’m starting at the bottom but honestly don’t care. I enjoy going to work and not having to take any of it home with me, schedule my vacation time around payroll or open enrollment! lol. I leave there each day knowing I am giving them 110% and I am enjoying all the new things I am learning.

Of course when we made this plan, we set the goal of only being apart for a maximum of 6 months. Then covid hit and our decisions are no longer our own to make. We planned for me to go back to Japan in February to go to the Ice Festival in Sopporo. However, even if I went there is always the chance they will cancel the festival as they have with many traditional celebrations. So, we have to take it day by day at this point and hope for the best. Glen is coming to visit in a couple days, so we are thankful he is able to do that. He will have a Restriction of Movement (ROM) period when he goes back, working from home for 14 days. Worth it to come home. I sure miss him and the puppers. With the program we entered, if he can find an applicable position here prior to the September 2021 end of our commitment, he can come back early. So, we are hopeful something will come up. But, also realistic and prepared for the next year apart.

Before I went back to work I traveled to Georgia and Virginia to see my brother and his family. Had such a great time and I so wish they all lived next door to me! Lucky for me, since the college classes are now all virtual my niece decided to make the move to Washington sooner than she had hoped. So, I now have a wonderful roommate and her sweet pup. She has already been hiking with friends and plans for many more. It is such a treat for me to get to spend such quality time with her, as she has always lived far away from me while growing up. We are so much alike, its spooky sometimes. I don’t know what the future holds for her or where she will go, but I am going to simply enjoy her company for the time I can!

So, I think this catches us up currently. I’ll be back more often, with some travel, crafts, and general mayhem to share. Stay tuned!

Odawara Castle in Odawara city in Kanagawa Prefecture, 84km west of Tokyo on the old Tokaido highway is a symbol of the city, though the present Odawara Castle is a modern, concrete reconstruction dating from the 1960’s. Odawara is now the gateway to the hot spring resorts of Hakone with trains and buses running to various parts of the Hakone scenic area.

Odawara Castle has a long history and a fortress has stood on or near this strategic site since the late 15th century, when the surrounding area was controlled by the Hojo clan. The Hojo repelled attacks on Odawara Castle led by Uesugi Kenshin in 1561 and Takeda Shingen in 1569. However the Hojo were finally defeated in a largely bloodless siege of Odawara Castle in 1590 by a huge force under the command of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who gave the clan’s lands to Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Following the completion of Ieyasu’s own Edo Castle in preset-day Tokyo, Ieyasu passed control of Odawara to his retainer, Okubo Tadayo, who rebuilt the castle on a smaller scale than the original that had been attacked by Hideyoshi. The Okubo clan were still in control of the Odawara domain at the end of the Edo Period in 1867. Thereafter, the new, reforming Meiji government ordered the destruction of domain castles and Odawara Castle was largely demolished except for its stone walls and moats.

Restorations to Odawara Castle began in the 1930’s and in 1960 the concrete replica castle we see today was built, with further work carried out on the site from the 1970’s onwards, including construction of the Tokiwagi Gate in 1971, the Akagane Gate in 1997, and the Umade Gate , as recently as 2009.

As with so many places we visit here, it is amazing how old some are, and if they had been rebuilt, they are true to history as much as possible. The castle holds a museum of samurai armor. The Japanese people value history so much, it is inspiring. Also as with so many places we visit, TONS of steps. 😳😊

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Hakone Glass Forest

The first art museum specializing in Venetian glasses in Japan, is located at Sengokuhara in the northern part of the Hakone area surrounded with lush greenery. It was another area that we loved as the green trees, mountains and rivers reminded us of home!

The museum is home to over 100 modern and classical Venetian glassware including vases and goblets, among others. Classic Venetian glass pieces, admired by royal families during the medieval times in Europe, can be found in this part of the museum. Aside from classic, timeless glass pieces, the museum also features Venetian glass pieces made by contemporary and modern artists. We were surprised to find many works by Seattle based artist Dale Chihuly.

More inforation: https://www.japanvisitor.com/japan-city-guides/japan-museums/glass-forest

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For us, one of the best parts of the MWR bus trips is the actual trip itself. We saw so much country we would not have seen otherwise. So many beautiful mountains and towns.

And lastly, the rest stops have the most amazing food! One on this trip had a bakery that made me want to forget any calorie counting forever! Just a sample of a couple things to showcase how wonderful they all looked!

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Mikoshi is a divine palanquin which is used as a vehicle to transport a deity of a certain shrine mostly during the festivals or to another shrine. “Koshi” in Japanese means a palanquin, they were widely used by nobility in the past. In other words, Mikoshi is a portable shrine for God. Any traditional religious festival has a Mikoshi in its procession.

In most cases, these portable shrines resemble real shrines with a little building, roof, walls, veranda, and pillars. The classical Mikoshi lies in two handcrafted poles made of finest wood and its body is lavishly decorated with gold and other precious materials. So, you can only imagine how much that can cost. Sometimes, you can see a golden phoenix on the roof of the Mikoshi. Mikoshi can weight up to more than a ton. The bigger portable shrine is, the heavier it is and more poles it has. Usually, there are either 2, 4, or 6 poles.

Each Shinto shrine in Japan has its deity or even few. Commonly on a yearly basis, these deities travel around their neighborhood in Mikoshi to bring good luck to local people and business. Mikoshi is carried by local volunteers on their shoulders. Mikoshi bearer is a very privileged role. You can recognize the bearers by the special festival outfit – happi and fundoshi. Happi looks like Yukata, but shorter and fundoshi is a traditional Japanese male undergarment. As the palanquins are quite heavy, so it takes from 10 to 60 people to carry it. Usually, its men who carry the Mikoshi. However, you can often see smaller portable shrines designed especially for women or children.

Mikoshi and its bearers are the centers of any festival procession. The bearers have a habit to chant at every step they make. Usually, you can hear “Wasshoi, Wasshoi!” or “Esa, hoisa, Esa, hoisa”. This chanting helps to follow the rhythm when stepping and brings a great energetic atmosphere to the event. Sometimes when the procession stops in front of some small business, you can also hear “Fure! Fure!”. This literally means “Shake! Shake!” and the bearers start shaking the Mikoshi vigorously. By that, they give a blessing to that small business. The Mikoshi procession often has a few Japanese drums and other musical instruments in it depending on the festival, so you can totally feel the atmosphere of a real Matsuri.

The Mikoshi festival we went to last weekend started at a train station outside the base and ended at the gym on base. The base is ion for local folks to come onto base and participate and/or watch the parade. They love to come on base and eat at the stands, especially pizza and ribs. Although the have pizza restaurants in Japan, they love the American version.

The mikoshi were amazing. Very pretty and detailed. The teams carrying them were so animated and full of pride and energy for their tradition. It was very fun to watch. You can see in the 4th picture several men from on mikoshi. They are wearing traditional clothing, supposedly with the traditional undergarment, the fundoshi. This comes in several basic styles. The most relaxed type consists in a strip of cloth, wound around the hips, secured at the small of the back by knotting or twisting, with the excess brought forward between the legs, and tucked through the cloth belt in front to hang as an apron.

The second style, for people who are active, is formed when the cloth is wound around the hips so that there is an excess of apron, which is brought back again between the legs and twisted around the belt-cloth in back. I think the pictures I have show the first one in red on a very active man that put on a great show own the parade route! 😂

Nikko is a small town at the entrance to Nikko National Park, most famous for Toshogu, Japan’s most lavishly decorated shrine and the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate.  Nikko had been a center of Shinto and Buddhist mountain worship for many centuries before Toshogu was built in the 1600s, and Nikko National Park continues to offer scenic, mountainous landscapes, lakes, waterfalls, hot springs, wild monkeys and hiking trails.  Nikko and the Okunikko area around Lake Chuzenji, in particular, are well known for their beautiful autumn colors. The area reminded us so much of Washington with the fir trees, rivers, lake and mountain terrain. We very much enjoyed the walking in the woods at the waterfalls.

Yudaki Falls is a 70m-high, 110m-long waterfall located at the southern tip of Yunoko Lake. Named as one of the “Famous 5 Waterfalls of Nikko” alongside Kegon Waterfall, Urami-no-taki Waterfall, And Ryuzu Waterfall, Yudaki Falls is a highly popular tourist attraction.  The highlight is certainly the appearance of the lake all at once flowing over the rock wall at Yudaki falls which was created by a lava flow from Mt. Mitsudake which dammed up the Yukawa River to create Lake Yunoko.

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The almost 100 meter tall Kegon Waterfall is the most famous of Nikko‘s many beautiful waterfalls. In fact, it is even ranked as one of Japan’s three most beautiful falls, along with Nachi Waterfall in Wakayama Prefecture and Fukuroda Waterfall in Ibaraki Prefecture.  Kegon Waterfall is the only exit for the waters of Lake Chuzenji.  In the winter the waterfall is impressive as well when it freezes almost completely solid.

We walked through the temples and shrine area, but didn’t go inside individual buildings. Most were pay to enter, take off your shoes, crowds of people…  We have been to several and are always in awe of the delicate detail of the carvings, it’s really amazing.  It is also incredible how old some of these buildings are.  The battles they have survived is really something.  There were a collection of storehouse on the property.  Of the many colorful and elaborate wood carvings that decorate the storehouses, the most famous ones are those of the “see no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil” monkeys.

This being our first MWR tour we didn’t know exactly what to expect. We were pleasantly satisfied. The tour guide was very knowledgeable of the area and shared so much interesting information with us. This tour was a very long day, would no recommend if you can’t sit long on the bus. We really enjoyed just walking around the areas, which you get plenty of time to do. Each location you are set free to explore as you wish, with a meet back at the bus time. It works great if everyone knows how to get back to the bus. Unfortunately we had one group of ladies that got lost in the town of Nikko and another lady that had the police bring her to the bus. She smartly went to them when she couldn’t find her way back to the bus. Needless to say we ended up behind schedule but all was good. It was a long, great day!

The rest stops in Japan are incredible. The bathrooms are immaculate. There are many food offerings, from restaurants to convenience stores. Departments stores as well.

We scheduled a trip to Kyoto to visit the town and tour the Suntory Distillery, the home Glens favorite Japanese whiskies. This was his birthday weekend trip! So, we splurged and took the bullet train!

The Shinkansen, known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high speed railway lines in Japan. Over the Shinkansen’s 50-plus year history, carrying over 5.3 billion passengers, there has been not a single passenger fatality or injury due to train accidents. The maximum operating speed is 200 mph, we clocked it during our ride at a max of 181 mph. To say it is a quicker way to get where your going is an understatement. It is very comfortable and great way to travel!

Train snacks and vacation food, and pictures of fun!!

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In 1923, Shinjiro Torii envisioned a whisky filled with the essence of Japanese nature and hand-crafted by artisans through a patient process of enhancing the work of nature. He dreamt of creating subtle, refined, yet complex whisky that would suit the delicate palate of the Japanese and enhance their dining experience.

Though initially inspired by traditional Scottish whisky, Torii envisioned a Japanese approach by choosing a terrain and climate completely different from those of Scotland. Torii chose the region of Yamazaki, on the outskirts of Kyoto as the birthplace of Japanese whisky.

For the whole story, visit the site: https://whisky.suntory.com/en/global/the-house/history. It is actually pretty interesting.

To say that Glen enjoyed this tour is an understatement. He loved everything about it. If he could work there for free I think he would! The tour was very informative, interesting to anyone I think. They provide a device so that we could listen to the tour in English, which we sure appreciated.

At the end we come to a room with tables set for us to sit. They bring sets of glasses full of whiskey to each of us. They go over the difference between each stage of the whiskey, and then instruct us on how to make a highball. I’m not a whiskey fan so Glen made out well, he got 2 highballs! Then we headed to the tasting room where he tired a few other whiskeys. He was a happy camper going back to our hotel!

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Been a while since I’ve written anything, so heres a catch up!

In September my brother and his lovely wife were making a trip to Washington to see Mom, and tour some independent living places with her. Since I had one more Space A flight to use before the end of September I decided to go visit and join them. I ended up taking a flight from Yokota to Hickham, in Hawaii. 4 of my favorite people in the world were there on vacation so I spent a great 48ish hours there with them. It was such fun to surprise the kids! Unfortunately I wasn’t there in time to witness their vow renewal, but the pictures are amazing. We spent time on the beach, at the pool and on a fun booze cruise! As always, never long enough but thankful for the time I did get to spend with them on their family vacation.

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This flight was my first time flying on a military plane, a C17 to be exact. What a game changer! I was totally unprepared, and jealous of the experienced couple that had a blow up air mattress! The best part of those flights is that fact that once your at altitude, you can lay down on the floor and sleep! I have prepared myself now, I went on amazon straight away and ordered a compressible air mattress, pillow and a blanket! I now have a space A travel bag! My flight home from McChord (Washington) to Yokota (Japan) through Elmendorf (Alaska) was much better! It can get cold on the flight so I recommend layering clothes so you can sleep comfortably. You can purchase a box lunch when you check in, it is generally a sandwich, water, soda, chips, fruit, cookie and some sort of Nutri bar. It’s $5.60 and unless you are prepared with your own food, it’s worth the price. Especially since the base to base flights are completely free!

Ayhooooo…I digress. Had a great time in Washington. Got to see my family, my loves and most of all my Baby. Always enjoy any time I am lucky enough to spend with him. We manage to pack a lot of fun into a couple days! We scootered through Spokane, those lime scooter are such a blast. We had appetizers and rinks at PF Changs, Lobster rolls at High Tide and good old fashioned American Mexican food! We had pedicures, he’s always game to pamper himself with me, I love that about him. He even let them paint his nails black, first time! We went to a little night farmers market with my nephew Israel and his son Bryan. Did some shopping at Bath & Body, Ulta and Macy’s. My time with him is never enough and it always breaks my heart a little to leave. He’s simply my favoritest.

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In the midst of my trip I received an email from my employer offering me a full time position (been on call to now) so I had to head back home sooner than I had originally planned. I didn’t get to see all the people I wanted to or spend as much time with those I did see. But, I’ve been waiting for a full time job so did not want to miss the opportunity.

Early this morning we experienced my first and Glens worst (his 2nd) typhoon. The sound of the wind, the thunder and lightening, the rain so hard and in such quantity it was like a hose was turned on full blast on the windows. We went to bed around 1130 PM. The wind and rain had started, but boy did they get after if around 0100 in the morning. It was so loud it was impossible to sleep. Glen got up to go look out a window at a streetlight, the only way to actually see what was happening, and Harlee jumped on our bed and was not moving. She was not impressed with Mother Natures show. Its difficult to even describe the intensity and velocity of the elements.

You know how people say when things go quiet, it’s the “eye of the storm”, i.e. the calm before the storm. Well, we’d been having wild wind and rain for 2+ hours and all of a sudden it was silent, not a tree moving or raindrop dropping. It was totally eerie. We were literally experiencing the eye of the storm. It lasted about about an hour and then, BAM! the storm was back with a vengeance. Another 2.5-3 hours of the show before it passed over and onward. To say it was impressive to me is an understatement. I only wish we lived close to the water so we could have watched the waves roll.

The pictures below show a small amount of the damage the Yokosuka base experienced. So many trees blown over, large branches broken and smaller branches and leaves EVERYWHERE! McDonalds had windows blown out, many places lost power. Unfortunately there were a couple locals that lost their lives in the storm. One lady was picked up and blown into a wall and a man was hit by a falling tree while picking up debris. Many homes lost power, and may still be without.

Addition: https://www.stripes.com/yokosuka-bears-brunt-of-typhoon-faxai-as-category-3-storm-slams-tokyo-area-bases-1.597992

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As an on call employee I get work when people are on vacation. So, I’ve been working the last couple weeks full time in the ID Lab on base. Unfortunately, due to the slow as molasses process to obtain clearance for the computer system, I’ve been doing a lot of shredding and signing people in for appointments. It’s work, but slow. To pass the time since I can’t just sit there, I’ve cleaned out old cabinets of stuff, peeled old tape off the counter and vacuumed the office. I’m a firm believer in the old it doesn’t matter what your position is, if something needs to be done and you have the time, then you do it. Im also a firm believer of avoiding sitting around at work doing nothing. People say they’d like to get paid to do nothing but believe me, its over rated. I mean, if I was making $100 an hour I suppose that would change my outlook on it! 😂 Hoping next week I’ll have access and be able to learn and do some real work.

The best part about working is the people. I’ve meet so many nice folks, and the 4 in the ID Lab are class act. It’s been fun getting to know them. Since Glen is back in the states visiting family, having to go to work each day has really helped stave off the loneliness and boredom! He hasn’t been back since September when he cam here, so he was due. The most difficult part of being here is missing our loved ones back home. He’s going to his 30 year class reunion and seeing friends and family. It’s a well earned and deserved vacation. That all being said, I am 100% ready for him to be home. We, me and the girls, miss him terribly. We look forward to his return!

We’ve set up a trip for September for his birthday. We will be going to Kyoto, and touring the Suntory Distillery. They turn out one of his favorite whiskeys, Yamazaki. I’ve met a friend at work that is going to come to the house and stay with the girls. So now we will be able to travel together. We’re looking forward to that for sure. Kyoto has some great things to see, including actual Geishas. We’re not setting up any other things, just going to wing it and see what we can see! I’ll post pictures afterward!