Dan and Miho's Home in Okutama

Dan met us at the Narita Airport and it was wonderful to see his smiling face.  We drove five hours to Okutama just in time to see the festival and the dancers.  I got to dance with the group because one of the young woman showed me how to do the steps.  Later, it was refreshing sleeping in Erika's big brass bed, listening to the sounds of the Ice River and enjoying the cooling breezes every night.

 In the morning, we woke to the tearing down of the festival and the temples were put away.  Everyone pitched in and helped.  Dan took us for a dip in the Ice (Hiakawa) River and it was so cold; but since the temperatures were in the nineties, we felt refreshed.  Then he took us hiking up the mountain to see the new cabins and a bathhouse that wasn't opened on Monday.

Every morning, I went to the courtyard to check out the newest activity.  We saw the elders hanging up clothes and enjoying a break with cookies and tea afterwards.  And the next day, we saw more lines filled with new washings.  Dan took us to the base and we shopped for souvenirs.  Keito and Dan both got haircuts at the base barbershop.

We traveled up to the Lake Okutama to see the reservoir filled with clean, pure water.  It was a beautiful sight; and we enjoyed exploring the Park Center, equipped with woodworking, gem polishing and pottery classrooms.  Bob would like the woodworking and all the examples of the interesting and utilitarian uses for the cedar wood from the area.  We dined in a lovely restaurant and viewed the outdoor scenery from the surrounding glass windows.

Nancy decided that Mount Fuji-San was our goal on this trip; and Dan drove us up to the bus stop on Thursday.  We rode the Fugiku up to Station 5 and bought Fuji Sticks there at the shops.  Then we bravely started our climb.  It was cooler and steeper the more we advanced.  And I had to stop for a break because my heart was beating a mile a minute.  But we made it to Station 6!  The guards there told us that we couldn't go further because we weren't equipped with warmer clothing and hiking shoes.  So we enjoyed the view and started back down the steep incline.  The surface was rocky and covered with ashes that made the trail very slippery.  Dan told me to take peep-peep steps.  I walked sideways to take the pressure off my knees.  We made it back to the shops and ate some corn and potato cakes and ice cream before heading home.  It was an experience that was fantastic; but I had enough of Fuji.

The last day of our visit Dan took us for a railroad ride to the Saki Factory and we ate at the outdoor restaurant there.  Dan bought us a delightful luncheon.  Nancy and I found a cat there; and we watched it eat buckwheat noodles.  It was fairly skinny; so the noodles must not have been fattening.  Nancy took a picture of a young woman in a kimono; later, Miho dressed me in her mother's kimono.  I felt like a princess!  Thank you, Dan and Miho and Erika and Keito and Yuto for my trip of a lifetime, visiting with you in Japan.