Yesterday (Thursday) kicked off with a massive breakfast with our hosts at Gwenies in Anchorage. Hot cakes and reindeer sausage for me. I can say Rudolf was tasty, it was like Portuguese sausage. It was a bit odd that when we finished, it was still dark at 8:00.
Cruise at our main hosts 4,000 sq-ft home for a while. Full on auto racing memorabilia house hold. Quite cool. More cars than I have, but they have the space! Continue reading ‘Furries’
Monthly Archive for November, 2013
Page 3 of 4
Pours medium amber, medium head. Clean, crisp, nice easy nut and roast. Could be the vacation thing, but this is a nice beer.
3 out 4 frosty monkeys.
Touchdown Anchorage. Layer if snow on sides of Tarmac. Temp below freezing. No active precip.
Though I was in Matsue, I didn’t get over to Yaegaki-jinja. I don’t think I’ll ever make it back to this part of Japan again, but I won’t regret missing the opportunity to walk through the shrine precincts muttering “Kushinada“. I did see Matsue castle from the bus, but I didn’t get to go inside or take pictures. I guess I’m a little bummed about that.
I went all the way to Uji, but the weather hadn’t been cold enough for the majority of the momiji to turn to red, and Byodo-in was covered in scaffolding and plastic sheeting for a 3-year renovation project. I guess Byodo-in is more interesting to Hawaii folk than the average American, because of the 3/4 scale concrete replica at Temple Valley. They supposedly have a really nice garden, but I’ve been to some other famous gardens and was underwhelmed, so I passed on the 500-yen entry fee. The throngs of shouting schoolkids queued up made my decision to pass easier.
I spent all morning and the better part of the afternoon on the Shinkansen from Hakata to Okayama, and a highway express bus from Okayama to Izumo-shi to witness all the kami in Japan congregating at Izumo Taisha (go look up “kannazuki”on the internet). All the gods were with me, as all the ticketing and connections worked out perfectly, though it did take a while to find the Misdo in JR Hakata-eki. Spent about ten minutes wandering around then finally asked the information booth girl. Turns out it is right next to the shinkansen gates, so if I looked for that, I’d have found the donuts incidentally. The ceremony had lots of fire. The rainy weather let up just in time for the ceremony to commence, and the stars and moon came out.
Sunday October 27, Chris was able to free up a couple hours and new bike fever had bit me so I was itching for a ride. Weather was calling for a flash flood watch, but there was no active rain at the moment. We decided to chance a quickie and go to Maunawili Ditch. Late morning and it was just Chris and I at Waimanalo. Skies were looking grim, but we unloaded and headed onto double track climb. A gentle rain had started and we decided not to go into the Ditch Trail, we knew how mucky it gets when wet. As we passed the Ditch Trail entrance we passed two riders coming out. The rain was gradually increasing. The two riders passed us as we took a break near Jackson Chameleon hill. By the time we reached the open junction area the rain was going at a good pace, this didn’t look like a passing shower. Continue reading ‘Two Yeti, One Ride’
You can spot me easily here in Fukuoka. I’m the one guy in a MulitCam jacket and green pants in a sea of black and grey-suited businessmen. …oh, and I have a beard. It’s probably more glaring since I’m in an area with a lot of business hotels. I should blend in better when I get into the sticks this evening.
It’s finally light out enough for me to see. I woke up at 04:00 (09:00 HST) and couldn’t really get back to sleep. The little spot of sky I can see from my room is blue with wispy clouds, which is in sync with the JMA forecast for today. Unfortunately, it’s supposed to be rainy on the Nihonkai coast where I will end up this afternoon. It’s snowing a lot up North (16cm overnight in some areas), and there are gale force winds blowing up skirts in the Kantou region. The internet says there are two Mister Donut locations within JR Hakata-eki, so I know where I’m having breakfast! Continue reading ‘Aozora, for Now’
Landed in Fukuoka and breezed through immigration, baggage claim, and customs. My bag got the “priority/first-class” treatment, so it was one of the first out on the belt! The customs guy actually asked me to open my pack duffle and my Kifaru, but was somewhat discouraged when he found it to be packed tighter than a sausage. The inter-terminal bus was right there, and I got over to the domestic terminal and subway station with ease. 250-yen got me to Hakata-eki, and the Garmin got me to the hotel without too much of a hitch (“track up” might have made my life a little easier, though). I’ll head downstairs to the onsen, then maybe look for a convenience store. I was going to walk over to the nearest Menchanko-Tei, but I’m not feeling hungry, since it is midnight at home. Continue reading ‘What the FUK?!?!’