Weekend Getaway

This is such a nice site on the way to Park City. (It's St. Mary's Catholic Church). I love the very "Park City style" and the way it is framed by the mountains. I also love that about so many of our Temples, nestled in nature, against the mountains, trees and blue skies.

We took a morning hike.
With so much to do it was hard to break away, but definitely worth it!
Getting out into nature and away from the computer can definitely help with perspective and priority. I forget to take care of myself sometimes.

We celebrated Steve's birthday and checked out an abandoned mine - reminiscent of the old Park City mining town.
When I got home, Jenn, Fred and Emma had been cleaning the fridge! What a nice surprise. Adam also pulled out a bunch of old paint cans so I could get it to the hazardous waste disposal that was offered free on Saturday. Then they went on to clean the family room. Dejunking is always a good feeling and it's so hard for me to get time to clean properly. The lawnmower went on the blink so I didn't get to mow. Good thing winter's almost here and the mowing chore can be delayed without too much damage.

Harry S. Truman Library

Independence, MO - Not a lot of time and my camera battery was dead so I only have this little clip. I have a few more photos on Jon's camera. Hopefully I can get those posted too.

Myrtle Beach

I enjoyed Myrtle Beach but it broke my heart that Karla wouldn't let us take the girls there. I brought my suit but it was too depressing to actually wear it.
The Atlantic Ocean was so warm!
I love wading on the beach.

The Hermitage

I stayed in Hermitage, TN on Saturday and toured The Hermitage, home of Andrew and Rachel Jackson. This is one of the goals I had listed on my blog of places to visit! Check off another goal, even though it came about unexpectedly. I enjoyed reading some biographies of Andrew Jackson and especially enjoyed, The President's Lady, so it meant a lot for me to be able to see this. I was able to stroll through beautiful, serene land. I found Tennessee to be one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The Smokey Mountains aren't the Rockies, but the rolling and endless green was quite pleasant and it wasn't as humid as South Carolina. If I had to relocate to the south I believe this would be my choice. I loved the warm Atlantic Ocean but Tennessee captured my heart.

A perfect day with a wonderful walking trail.

Andrew Jackson worked the property as a farm with enslaved African-Americans. He considered himself a farmer and General but his presidential term was done as a "community service" and not the remembered identity he desired. Throughout the tour he is called, "the General" which is even how Rachel referred to him.
A beautiful southern-style estate. The original log cabin he built for Rachel is still on the property and it was later "downsized" so it could house slave families. It was considered inappropriate for slaves to occupy a previous two-story home of a senator so it was reduced to one level, the walls were whitewashed and the nice things removed in order to make use of the vacated home. What a travesty and scar in American history these atrocities were.

The front of the home as it was restored by Jackson following a fire. Rachel never actually saw it with this facade; only with the red brick since she died before the restoration. Her adopted son and daughter-in-law, Sarah, rebuilt and furnished the home. They also named their first child, Rachel, after her grandmother whom she never knew in this life.
Rachel and Andrew dressed as they were for a birthday celebration for George Washington. The models are made to scale, he being 6 ft. 1 and weighing 140 lbs; she being a foot shorter and "stout."
Trees surround the property and General Jackson brought a tree back from every battle site which he planted at the Hermitage.
Tour guide in period costume.I'm at the well
The back of the mansion
Part of the property
Beautiful grounds
The back of the home that opens to the farm area

South Carolina

Look closely - they paved the road around the tree without removing it. Very cool!
Jon's very nice Christian friend, Sam. I enjoyed being able to meet someone who truly treats people as his brother and helps those in need. He certainly was a blessing to Jon.

This river walk gazebo just screams "the South"
View from the gazebo

The river
These crepe myrtle trees are everywhere! They have beautiful blossoms in pink, white, and lavendar - even now, in August

A leisurely stroll allowed time to serenely contemplate the current tribulations.

The Spanish moss hanging from the trees

A beautiful river walk in Conway
At the Hanser House restaurant where we ate with Sam

Zao Mountain (Volcano/Ski Resort)

Beautiful View - The other side of the mountain

Shinkansen (Bullet Train) & Tokyo

Sushi

On our last day we had to go for sushi one last time. The conveyor belt goes by and you can take what you want. If you want to special order, you do that from the sign and it arrives on a special plate with a little jingle to let you know it's coming so you'll wake up to grab it. This is Japanese fast food.

Home again

Of course it had to happen...

I left my laptop in Chris's van. I had loaded it in the back, then we jumped out at the train station. Everyone grabbed bags and somehow the laptop went unnoticed. So, Chris has to mail it to me :( Fortunately, it's my spare! It was sure nice having it with me in Japan. Chris, Kiyomi, "Papa" and the kids were fantastic hosts and tour guides. They spoiled us and made sure we got the real Japanese experience; not the tourist version. Perfect! Oh, and for the return trip, Kiyomi packed a great lunch and treats for the train and plane, including salmon rice balls (yum!), Japanese pastries (much better than ours here), drinks (I found a cool lemon water over there), and plenty of chocolate to get us through the long flight and train rides. They also gave me a cool doll with traditional Japanese kimono and hats like they use in the parade I'm missing. And, her dad gave me gifts and treats too. See what I mean about spoiled?

The trip home was fine, though much more hassle since there was a stop in LAX. That airport is a zoo! It's always under construction and just has a weird feel. I guess I'm spoiled by the SLC airport, and of course Tokyo was very nice too.

After experiencing the universal "niceness" and manners of the Japanese, it was a bit of a culture shock to land back in the USA. Customs & immigration agent was totally deadpan, said very little; no greeting or "welcome back to the states". So different that what we experienced the past week. One guy on the exit door from immigration here actually smiled and said "have a good day." In Japan, they were almost universally that way. You wouldn't think it would be that tough to add a little courtesy and it certainly makes it nicer for everyone. We've become so accustomed to the rude, self-centered attitudes of so many people we hardly notice. After being somewhere else, you can really see the contrast. The Koreans were not like the Japanese that way and Korean Air was fine for the return but since it was a flight from Seoul, stopping in Tokyo (to pick us up) and then on to LAX, there were lots of Korean passengers. The difference was remarkable.

I did like Korean Air's uniforms and colors. It's a perfect uniform for the petite Korean attendants. They also offered a nice comfort kit with soft socks, passport holder, toothbrush and eye mask. I did eat the traditional Korean dinner (pretty good) but I passed on rice porridge for breakfast.
The good part about the stop in LAX was the outside moderate temperature without the humidity we've been enduring in Japan. Of course Delta feels like "home"...

I hope they keep the Delta direct SLC to Narita because that sure made travel to Japan smooth. I would definitely recommend it! I'll post more photos soon but for now I've been up for 32 hours or so (except for a few short sitting naps) and need to hit the hay. One example. A Korean woman sitting behind me woke me when I was trying to sleep to tell me to put my seat in the upright position (as if there were any other). It turned out she needed more room to apply her makeup in flight! Priority # 1 I guess.

Anyway, back in the old U.S. of A - for better or worse. Hate to see vacation end but looking forward to sleeping in my bed tonight.

Vacation

What I forgot...
There's always something. What I should have brought on this vacation but didn't was the charger for my camera battery (special lithium rechargeable). I have two batteries and with them both fully charged I was sure it was all I'd need, but alas! I had not considered that I might be taking nonstop pictures. It's about $36 here for a new charger that I don't really NEED and $42 for a new battery. So, we've used Chris's big, fancy camera the past two days and I still have my Flip video so I guess I'll survive. Note to self: always take the charger even if you don't think you'll need it. Other than that, I could have used an extra suitcase to carry home the souvenirs! And I found so many cute clothes here, I could have left all mine home and started from scratch.

This shows the traditional Yamagata Yukata and hats that will be used in the parade. The kids are dancing and I'm very sad to have to miss it. They do it the same day we leave. Delta wanted an extra $668 per ticket to extend by one day, so....

Volcano and Hot Springs

Julia loved my Flip Camcorder and she wanted to make this one. We were soaking our feet in the hot springs bath. This is at the foot of the ski resort and I'm sure in winter it feels fantastic after a day on the slopes. For us the weather was warm and it seemed crazy, but I wanted the experience and it wasn't too bad, but it was definitely hot water.


We saw the Zao volcano today.

More Japan

We had a minor earthquake during the night a couple of days ago. Chris, sleeping upstairs noticed it but I did not.

We went to see an ancient, though small, castle and Yamagata's main park which is in the process of being rebuilt with the castle that was originally there. The moat is still in place with the coolest walking trail at the top of it that surrounds the whole park. In April the park is lined with cherry trees in blossom.

A little Sunday music

When we arrived at the end of the 1000 step hike and enjoyed the view from the lookout point, a lady was playing her harmonica - a lovely, familiar tune which is very popular in Japan too (they sing different lyrics though). The tune is "Go Tell Aunt Rhody" and in the church we sing it as "Lord Dismiss us With Thy Blessing".



I also appreciated a blog post I read here. She addresses the imperfection (us) and perfection (the Gospel of Jesus Christ) in the church.

Jordan's birthday dinner

This 10 course, traditional Japanese dinner was absolutely amazing! Here is one of our servers, Papa, Jordan and Kiyomi who was taping me (I think she was waiting for a "eewwww" reaction. Actually I found it just great, even if I was a bit suspicious. I had to put away my epidemiology hat and eat the raw fish - well some of it at least. It wasn't bad; you just have to put mind over matter I think. Knowing it is raw makes it harder. A friend advised me, "if it's still wiggling, don't eat it." So, I'm following that advice at least.
The little girls had their own plate of kid-friendly food. Of course these little girls eat anything so it's not exactly a "happy meal."
The first course consisted of appetizers (and a huge menu explaining the food - I couldn't read it of course). The appetizers included some kind of maybe clam with cheese sauce in a little shell (wonderful!), some sea urchin (kind of gross), a chicken thing and more unidentifiable stuff. The dinner was much more elegant than my description.
Next came the tray of raw fish - this included raw shrimp and more.
Part of the meal included a cook-it-yourself dish where you boil veggies and fish in water that has sea weed in it and sits on a fondue-style burner.
Chris, Papa, and Jordan
When we passed on the tea, they brought us a welcome glass of ice water.
Early the next morning (at least by 6 AM) we saw a little lady with a cart selling melons on the steps to the beach across from the hotel.
Chris ordered most of us a "western" breakfast. He figured we'd had enough fish already. Kiyomi and her dad were puzzled - how could you ever have enough fish?
A famous chef cooked our main course (fine shellfish delicacy, lightly broiled). Apparently it comes in white, another color (can't remember) and black with the black being the finest. This is what we had.