The military base eased up on their restrictions because Japan is keeping COVID minimal. They are doing a great job at not spreading the virus around. Since the Americans are allowed to travel around Japan again a group has formed from our ward of those wanting to hike and travel together.
Last week and this week there have been many trips! I have only taken my kids on a couple of them. I have been busy with cake orders and my normal life. And Ster has been working until 5pm Monday-Friday. So I feel bad doing too many excursions without him. He wants to experience Japan as well.
Thursday the 25th my friend Charisse was taking her whole family on a hike to see hydrangeas...which is a big deal as they are in bloom. Charisse invited me to hike with them one last time before they move to America. I planned to but then the customer who was suppose to pick up her cake at 10am said she couldn't make it for two more hours. That meant I had to miss the hike trip. Charisse wouldn't have it. She told me to stop being so nice. To tell the customer to pick it up right then or that I needed to find another solution. She suggested having my neighbor hand over the cake.
Brilliant!
Luckily Tonni next door was home that morning and had no plan to leave. So she kindly kept the cake in her fridge and handed it over when the customer came to her door.
At 11:00 my kids were hungry as we were meeting up on base for the day's adventure to begin. So, I decided the kids would have two lunches that day. We had packed Lunchables for lunch and many snacks. But I also picked up some Burger King lunch for them for the drive.
They really appreciated that.
The families that arrived are the Kartchners, Aunas, Merrells, Pettys and us. I didn't know where we were going or what it was called. So I followed the Petty's who drove pretty fast. Brother Petty had come along and he likes to get from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible.
I just had to worry about tight streets and busy traffic. We made good time though. It was about a 35 minute drive from the base.
It was a nice day. Not hot but not too cool either. Unfortunately the trails were all muddy. It was a gorgeous mountain. With hydrangeas all over it! And mystical decor as well as a Japanese quoi pond.
It was an uphill hike. Many stairs and even muddy, rocky inclines that were trickier to overcome.
We ate lunch together at some picnic tables. The little kids started playing in the hand washing tub that has a constant flow of running water. They found inside the tub some little crabs! They had a blast holding the crabs, trying not to get pinched, and even had fun when they did get pinched. It was an exciting adventure for them.
The adults talked and laughed like family. We have a love for each other and want sincerely to spend time together. The Merrells and Kartchners were about to move away. The Aunas and Petty's staying here a bit longer with us. And the Petty's I am just getting to know.
It was a perfect lunch time. The scene, the friends, the weather, the food. All were willing to share what food they brought. And Brother Kartchner hiked the rest of the way down to the car to get the watermelon (as precious as gold here). He drove his car up to the lunch place and revealed the watermelon.
We had no knife. No pocketknife even. Brother Kartchner made a wise crack about non of these scouts being prepared. And Sarah pointed out that we mom's don't allow our scouts to carry them on hikes and for fun. haha.
I would have allowed it if my boys had asked. But they didn't think of it.
Parley (teen Kartchner boy) didn't want to open and share the watermelon. They are so expensive here that we don't eat them often. By this point everyone was finishing lunch and felt full. So we convinced Nathan not to attempt to open and share the melon. It would have been a messy ordeal. But it was sweet of him to want to share it with us even if he had to find an unusual way to open and divide it.
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