ALT in Shimosuwa, Japan: Last weekend

It's Sunday evening, and I haven't had a chance to get to the computer to blog since Friday morning, so I'll just touch on some highlights of the weekend.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all sunny and 75. I couldn't have asked for more lovely weather. On Friday, we rode our bikes to Kamisuwa, which rings part of the lake. We came to the man-controlled geyser about 5 minutes before it was scheduled to blow, so we watched that. It made me think the name should be "Little Faithful". ha ha

A little further along are the docks where people were boarding the turtle and swan ferries. There is also a dolphin-shaped tour boat, and little swan pedal boats for rent. Many families and school children were enjoying picnics and playing in the beautiful park that is there. We bought some soft serve cones and enjoyed them while watching the boats on the lake. Traci had choco/banana flavor, and I had strawberry cheesecake flavor. yum!

On Saturday, we rode our bikes to Traci's school (so I could see the front of it) then parked our bikes and walked uphill to nearby Akimiya shrine. It was cool and frangrant under the cedar trees. This shrine has the largest bronze lion statues and largest rice straw ropes in Japan. Even without that claim to fame, the buildings and grounds were beautiful, and I'm glad I got to see it.

On the way home from the shrine, we stopped at the grocery store. It's fun to see name-brand labels, written in Japanese instead of English. See photo below of Campbell's as I've never seen it before. ;)

Today, we visited McDonald's for breakfast, then I helped Traci get a couple things home from the store - like a carpet for her living room, and wire shelf unit for the kitchen, and a nightstand. It's much easier with 2 bikes with baskets and racks, than 1! I had to return my lovely rental bike this afternoon. This evening, we may visit Cafe Gusto again for dinner, then I have to pack up to leave. My shuttle van comes at 8:40 am tomorrow. :)