A Day Off

Today Ray finally had a whole day free from basketball.  With this freedom at our grasp, we decided to brave the pouring rain and jump a train north.  Our ideal destination was a hotspring we saw on the map.  But to complicate the entire process, the map is horrible, we don't have directions, we only know English, and well, the people who we talk to certainly only know Japanese.

The day did turn out wonderful, despite me bringing the camera but forgetting the camera battery (oops!).  Luckily, thanks to the high tech devices that the Japanese so love, both of our cell phones doubled as digital cameras.  This pics attached were downloaded and good as gold.

We eventually did find the hotspring, or bath as they call them.  But they were looking to charge us $30, so we quickly declined and headed on our way.  On our way back to the train, we stopped to appreciate the incredible flowers (hydrangeas grow in abundance here!), the groves of bamboo, the phenomenal farms, and of course some awesome creatures like the mushroom.  I saw the same mushroom on the Planet Earth series and thought it was SO cool.  Didn't think I'd run into one in Japan.

When we'd made it back to the train station, to our surprise there was an "onsen", or hotspring hut available to dip our tired feet in.  So nice.

Now Ray is asleep on the bed. I will heat up some coconut soup I made last night.  We miss all of you!!