Yesterday I went for a drive an drove due north to the Tappi Cape, the tip of the island on the west coast. It was a blast and an adventure. The roads are marked, sort of, and I can kinda of figure out where I am by combining the GPS, maps and a bit of dead reckoning. I tried staying on the coast roads which takes me through all the tiny villages and fishing ports. Life up here is very simple and there isn't much around.
It was a treat to climb the mountain range and I found a long rider out enjoying the snaking road. I tried to talk to him, but up in the north part of Japan I am learning that English is not used, even the young teens. Here is the link, I drove 339 for the most part and yes it was tight.
For my little adventure I had a feeling that communication would be a challenge, as I have learned that English just isn't know even by teens and younger adults. I decided to play it safe and packed myself a lunch of PB&J, a coke, Hersey candy bar, Bananas and water bottle. I stopped a bunch and took some great photos along the way. I made the top of my trip by lunch so I sat on the ocean breakers and ate my lunch looking out over the Japan Sea.
After lunch I decided to try a different route back and once again winged my direction and watched for signs in English pointing to towns I could find on my big map. It was pretty amazing to me that there just wasn't much traffic any where, including very lite tourist traffic. I'm the only outsider I saw the entire trip, which is kind of weird feeling. I made it back to the apartment without any drama and was happy to have a good drive and adventure on my own.
Today I headed south to Goshogawara area which is the major 'city' close to me. It is sort of like a smaller Lakeland, and has 2 malls in the area. I told Amy I was malling for her today and also there is a Starbucks. Once again I was successful and found both malls, and right now I'm in Starbucks typing this email up. Funny thing is I'm the only one on a computer, but they have some very good business. I ate a lunch at a Japanese Restaurant, I have no idea what it was because everything is in Japanese. It was good, it was like a cold noodle salad with I think Chicken and other cut vegetables. It had this sesame dressing which I've heard others rave about. It was a nice light meal and an experience because as you can already guess I was the only outsider in there and nobody spoke English!
Today is Mother's Day in Japan, so Happy Mothers Day to Mom and Amy, Jenifer your's is coming next year!
Link to my pictures:
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