Torii's and Shrines

You can't go far in Japan without running into a Shinto Shrine or a Buddhist Temple. We've seen three Shinto Shrines so far and I'm not even close to being sick of them yet. I'm fascinated with Japanese architecture. I understand why Frank Lloyd Wright was so inspired by the far East. The pagoda construction is so, so cool.

This is a Torii Gate. They are usually located at the entrance of a Shinto Shine and they're supposed to symbolize the transition from the profane to the sacred. They're usually red or orange but not sure why yet.

There is a fountain there to cleanse your hands and mouth before you enter. It's completely optional but we thought it was pretty cool to honor Japanese customs.

This is another shrine very close to the base.

We are going to see a Buddhist Temple this weekend. I'll hopefully be posting many more of these.

Shirahama Beach

Misawa is small and rural, lots of farms, just enough shops and restaurants to satisfy but you can drive about an hour in any direction and find bigger cities with more to do. Hachinohe is south and they have a great sandy beach. There are only a hand-full of "swimming beaches" around. The tide here is tricky and the undertow strong so swimming in areas that are not designated so can be very dangerous.

Notice the rocky outcropping in the distance, that's as far out as you're allowed to swim.

We hadn't heard much about the beaches here so this was a very pleasant surprise. We've been too busy to go back and the weather is starting to cool off but we can't wait to go again.

Oirase Gorge

So about an hour from us is a place called the Oirase Gorge. It's amazingly beautiful. It a stretch of road leading up to Lake Towada and within this couple mile stretch of road is about 10 waterfalls. You can park and walk along the path and view all of them. We went on a drizzly day but the canopy of trees kept the rain out!

I couldn't read the signs but I assumed this was a really old tree? Or at least it was really cool.

Moss covers everything.

Critters

So, yeah, the bugs here are big.

This moth was on our back screen. Danielle thought it was going to bite me, Boris was trying to eat it. It probably would have filled him up!

Welcome to Misawa AB

So when we first heard we were coming to Japan we were anxious to live off base, with the locals, nestled in the community...then we heard it wasn't an option. We had to live on base. I didn't think I would like it. Like most other things I was wrong, living on base has been a huge blessing and it's quite nice.
This is base housing, there are two housing areas, one on main base and about ten minutes north is where we live on north base. It's very nice and quiet.
This is the base "beach", not bad right? The real beach is about 15 minutes away but this one is great and they have kayaks and boats and jet skis and it only a two minute drive from our house.
This is the maximum speed here on base, but it's not miles per hour, no it's kilometers, so I think it's about 45 miles per hour. Pretty slow, and this is only a small stretch for the most part it's 30-40 kilometers on base.
These stone shrines are all over the base.

Yep, we got a van, everyone here has vans, and not just regular vans. I'll have to post a picture sometime, but it's like a van that looks like it could eat another van, they're lifted with big racks on the front, pretty mean looking, but we opted for the regular van. Dan calls it a living room on wheels. I still can't believe he let us get one!

Yeah, we like it here.

A New School Year

These little cuties started another year of school here on the base. Danielle in 6th and Rayce headed to 1st, and Avie just wishing she was going. Each year I convince myself that it wont go as fast as the previous year and every time we start another school year I think where did the time go.

My very beautiful Danielle.

My Raycey boy!

Avie wasn't about to be left out.

Hopefully, they'll still be smiling by the end of the year. So far, so good!

Back Up and Running

Yay, we have our computer, and I'm anxious to blog about our adventures here in Japan.

Here we are flying to Japan on the Patriot. I thought a 10 hour flight with three kids would be the equivalent of hell on Earth but it was amazingly easy. It may have had something to do with the fact that we had to be at the airport by 2 am. The whole flight was a blur, I remember eating a bit and kinda watching some movies but mostly nada. The kids did awesome!

We are grateful to have made it here safe and for the amazing experience thus far, much more to come!