Tanabata Festival

Another Festival in Misawa... I think America would be a happier place if we had more festivals.... especially because they sell beer and mixed drinks in the street... hmmm too bad we went at 10 in the morning...
"Misawa City The Star Festival" (white sign in picture above... with this many American so accessible you think they would ask somebody if their sign was right?!?) But that is what I love about Japan... Anyways the Tanabata festival is celebrating the alignment of some stars... I think...
This girl just looks scary... Almost as scarry and the elephant creatures in Kimono behind her...
Great message kids....

There were this huge decorations all up and down the main street... there were soooo many, and they were HUGE...
Festival staple... food on a stick
Derick with the peace sign... I had to beg him to take this picture... he hates the peace sigh... and everything good in life... ha ha
They were pretty cool... I was really hoping it wouldn't rain... I am pretty sure they would melt...
Two cuties in kimono... I asked if I could take a picture... I think I might steal a Japanese baby...

Wilderness Camp

The first day of camp we went hiking in Oraise Gorge... I dont know if I spelled that right.... but it was absolutely gorgeous and I am pretty sure it is part of the wood between the worlds... There were ancient trees that created a canopy and all the light was a warm filtered green, there were huge ferns and wild hydrangea growing in the forest and the whole place smelled like warm earth, it was a quiet place full of life even the rocks in the middle of the river were covered in moss and grass... benches and picnic tables were covered in a layer of moss, everything dead was covered in life... it was intense!
This is at our base camp, we set up on these wooden platforms which was good becuase the first night it rained like crazy and it allowed for some drainage beneath our tents... I didnt bring my tent cause I thought it might be kinda big, but it would have done better in the rain then this nasty one from outdoor rec... The kids had it worse though, they got soaked that first night, but they had great attitudes and we made it through!

It was still rainy the next day and we were all cold so we decided to go to this 400 year old onsen and wait for the weather to clear and get warm... We rented a tatami mat room to hang out in and people could go soak in the onsen as they pleased... dont worry they were gender seperated... There was nobody in the onsen when we were there so I sneaked my camera in. It is all stone and Japanese Cedar... it was awesome! The water at this onsen is very sulfuric which gives it the aquamarine color, and is supposed to be great for the skin and hair..
It finally cleared up and our tents dried out and we were able to get a great night sleep before leaving for a big day hike the next day, that night was so nice I slept outside under the stars! We took the ropeway (a giant gondola) to the top of Mt. Hakkoda and took a winding hike across a couple other mountains in the range until we made it to the bottom... There were mists that moved among us and around the mountains... one moment we were in a deep haze and the next it would clear and the valley would unfold, it was very cool, I felt like we were in a magical land
And parts of the hike we were hiking through bamboo forests taller then us and I felt like we were running through the jungles in world war II... it was pretty cool...

Two thirds of the way down we took a rest on this platform and ended up all falling asleep, it was so awesome, the only noises were the wind in the grass, insects, and a few singing birds...
There were a surprising number of stairs... we went down some pretty steep decents...
a huge slug that looked like a turd... delicious!
We made it to the end of the hike... the trail ended at that 4oo year old onsen we had taken shelter in earlier.... and it had a shoe bath outside. And our shoes were VERY dirty! I love how clean the Japanese are... which is ironic because I am not a very clean person....

FUJI... dun dun dunnnnnnn

Sooo Derick was in Tokyo for work and after his thingy he was doing was over he tacked on a couple of days of leave and I took the bus down and we climbed Mt. Fuji... Mt. Fuji is only 12,300 something feet, so I was like hey no big deal... wrong... when you start from sea level, going up 12,00 feet in two days can be a challenge on your body... I got very altitude sick (upset stomach) but we made it to the top! Oh by the way we hiked at night so we could be on top for the SUNRISE! totally worth it... it was amazing... here is what happened!...On the way to the train station (it is a four hour journey by various trains and a bus to Fuji from the Air Base we were staying at) we saw some interesting vending machines... this one sells girls underwear... for nasty old Japanese men... the one next to it sold porn, but that picture is not blog appropriate... Japanese and their vending machines.... wow...

Hiking through the "concrete jungle" to get to the train station... oh and our friend DMS (John) went with us! He was already in Tokyo for the same thingy Derick was there for!
After all the trains and before the bus that took us up to the 5th station we stopped and had some dinner.. this is Udon.... which is like a really fat noodle, it had cabbage and carrots with it and I think horse meat... hmmm.... I dont know how I feel about that but I took all the meat out cause it was fatty (meat here tends to be super fatty... I tend to order vegetarian for that reason) BUT... it was super good and with super good green tea!
Here we are at the 5th station ready to begin our journey posing with old man Fuji and our walking sticks... you get these sticks and there are huts all the way up the mountain and you get it branded at each hut... it turn out really cool looking... so... it is 9:30 pm when we start our hike so we can be at the top of the mountain for the sunrise..
You can see all the people going up the mountain... it was crazy... there were sooo mannyyyyy peopppplllleeeee.....
this is 900 meters from the top at the 8th station... I was sooo sick at this point... but we had three hours till sunrise so we found a corner out of the wind and slept all huddled together for a couple of hours before the final assent...
Finally we made it too the top and we made it early enough we had a place to sit with a great view... those were a cold 30 min. just sitting waiting for the sun
And a 4 am here comes the sun.. it looked like we were on a plane... it was absolutely gorgeous and totally worth the climb

You can kinda see the ground at the bottom of the mountian.... that green area through the clouds... it was straight up....
All the people crowding around the top trying to get a good view in the last few seconds before the sunrise...
Finally warmth and sun! I was so happy!
On the top....
GORGEOUS!
And of course... Vending Machines on the top of Mt. Fuji... give me a break JAPAN!
The way down... pretty hard on the knees and not much of a landscape... I guess we didn't miss much hiking up in the dark!
Some really dirty volcanic ashy snow... looked cool though
The bullet trian that we rode on back to the Far North... it was a pretty cool ride...
Derick and I playing speed waiting for our train... GREAT TRIP!!!!

Lake Towada Firework Festival

This is a festival that is usually full of music... merriment... fish on a stick and fireworks. Unfortunately it was so rainy and windy there were no fireworks... very few people... and not so much merriment... but there was still fish on a stick... it was still really cool... here is what we found!Derick and I on the boardwalk... I was trying to turn his face.. but it just looks like I am choking him... which is really not that uncommon! It was so slippery that I kept running and slidding down for like 6 or 7 feet... it was a blast... I am sure every Japanese person that saw me thought I was special... well I guess thats nothing new!Here are the swan paddle boats we found... I was so sad the weather was too bad for us to go out in one... how hilarious!
This is my life... this is amazing... I love where I am... DUDES you all have to come visit!!! it is CRAZY....I am not sure how much fun everyone else was having but I was having a blast... I love the rain!
The wind was so strong it made this lake look like an ocean... these islands were beautiful... so Japanese... Japan is so Japanese... deep i know...
Me on the rocks next to the lake... it was so beautiful I was just running around taking pictures and my our friend told Derick that I needed a leash cause I kept running away like a two year old... oopsWe found this little Shinto Shrine in the middle of the woods on this little dirt path... Japan is so magical.. I feel like I am in a fairy tale. Ancient stairs and moss covered statues in the middle of an ancient forest full of cedar trees and ferns... amazing
This was the Shinto shrine on the top of the stairs.. I love Shinto shrines because they seem to be so in tune with nature. And when we got up there we found a little bit of sunshine...
These have something to do with the Shinto religion but i don't know what... I really like how they looked hanging there in the sun...
Tori gate leaving the forest... maybe it was the entrance and we just went the wrong way... I dont know... they are another one of my favorite parts of Japan...
We were pretty wet but we had SO much fun... I was glad we went even if there were no fireworks...
Like I said... no festival would be complete without fish on a stick... and by fish on a stick I mean WHOLE FREAKING FISH ON A STICK!

9 day market and random photos

So there are a few things in Japan that are only open on days that have a 9 in them... like the 9th or the 19th or the 29th... the 9 day market is one of them. It is a market where every day that has a 9 vendors come and set up thier little booths and sell their wares... here are some photos...
They sell everything from fresh fish.. to purses... to shoes... to fruits and vegetables.. and flowers.
This is the spoil of my last visit... peaches... apples... tomatoes.. mini grapes... bananas... and plums!!! soooo delicious!!!! The fruit is all soooo good! and the tomatoes are amazing!
Konas first package... it was her ferminator... she wasnt happy
this is our medicine cabinet.... I just want everyone to note how MY stuff takes up only the bottom shelf and DERICKS takes up the entire rest of the cabinet... he is ridiculous!
Stormy windy day over the lake by our house... The paint in Japan is not like the US it is all premixed and you are stuck with what they have... so I wanted teal for my kitchen and ended up trying to mix it myself... pictures to come later...This is what I am thinking for our living room

Thats it for this random photo update...