Next year Jim and I have plans to be in Europe in March and Canada in September. This probably doesn't allow time (or money, for that matter) for a trip to Japan. Lindsey and I do have vague plans for a trip in 2021, but we are considering sweeping up Jim, Ian, Austin, Kaori and Tatsuki and heading off for a road trip in Hokkaido. Probably no chance to visit Kyoto.
So Lindsey and I set off at about 8am in the early morning sunshine and went to visit the foxes in Fushimi Inari to say farewell for now. It was a beautiful morning and there weren't quite so many people there as there are later in the day.
And then it was time to move on. We left our lovely little house, walked the few metres to the local station and set off on our trip to Mizuho-shi, where we are spending the weekend with Austin, Kaori and Tatsuki.
We decided to go by local trains. No one would be at home in Mizuho-shi until 4 or so, so there was no point rushing. And on the local trains you see much more than you do on the Shinkansen.
We had one moment of excitement when one of the trains stopped at a random station and everybody got off. We weren't paying much attention and didn't notice, and weren't listening to the announcements - until I thought that the train had been stationary for sometime and looked up and noticed that we were the only ones left on the train. We hopped off, before we were taken away to wherever trains go to have lunch and a rest!
Otherwise the day was uneventful. The little local train line between Maibara and Ogaki is absolutely beautiful, running through mountainous forests with rivers and villages.
We had intended to go to Nagoya, have lunch and then come back. In the event we got off at Gifu, had lunch and then made our way back to Austin's station (which we had passed through on our way to Gifu).
And so to their house. A visit to Liquor Mountain and an enormous supermarket. Dinner in the Coco Diner. And so to bed.
A reasonably quiet day. But Lindsey still managed to win the weekly Fitbit step challenge we have with a small group of friends. There is one person who nearly always wins it hands down. With quiet but stubborn determination Lindsey kept stepping right up until the challenge ended and pipped him at the post.
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