Monthly Archives: September 2011

It’s not every day you get an email with that subject line… and feel great happiness. That was the case this morning. As we slept, the final closing documents were signed on the sale of our house. The final item … Continue reading →

Our favorite travel resources include Lonely Planet, Trip Advisor and CouchSurfing.  Bring lots of patience. The Japanese people have tons of it. They are not complainers and simply smile back to those who are complaining to them. You won’t usually … Continue reading →

Kyoto’s Kiyomizu temple is beautiful any day. But it’s more FUN on the day of the Seiryu-e festival!

Our major goal on this trip is to meet other people and learn about their cultures and what makes them unique. We are members of the perfect organization to help us connect to locals, www.couchsurfing.org. This online group is 3 million … Continue reading →

For many people (myself included), Hiroshima is synonymous with an event that took only a fraction of a second: the detonation of the first atomic bomb used in warfare, on August 6, 1945. I was eager to see the Hiroshima … Continue reading →

A couple favorite pix from our adventures at Fuji-Q: The park’s mascots are generic Power Ranger-ripoffs. I joined the yellow one in fighting crime, but we should have been fighting long lines instead. All is well at the top of … Continue reading →

Watch the video (by Ken)! Read the review (by Karen)! . Oh, there were some amusements all right! And some things that left us unamused. Warning: this review comes from a Western standard of amusement park enjoyment. We have been … Continue reading →

Checking into our first traditional Japanese accommodations takes us a bit out of our comfort zones.