June 22nd - Tuesday


Andy has a class at two, so he has to leave pretty early in order to get home and prepare his
lessons plans for the day. He knocks on our door at 7:30 and says his good-byes. It is always tough to watch our kids leaving!

One last look at Takayama before catching the train to Toyama. A quick stop at the morning
market for another square egg marshmallow and a birthday present for Ginger. Breakfast in
stages - the little shop where we get coffee doesn't have the bread and butter advertised in the
window. She offers "hot dogs" but that just doesn't sound like breakfast; instead Nick goes to
the bakery down the block and returns with raisin-walnut bread, hot from the oven!

Fortified we split up for our last errands and meet back at the Rickshaw Inn to collect our
luggage and head the few blocks to the station. We're off today to visit the Japanese Alps via
the Alpen Route. It is a multi-stage process and we will only go partway today.

Have I mentioned that I'm collecting the names of cars? I've seen a Nissan Note, a Honda Live, and Every, and a Guppy. There are more that I'll add when I think of them.

The ladies take the luggage to the train station while Nick goes back to the bakery to get us
goodies for the ride. We have to get to Toyana to pick up the Alpen route. We pass though more gorgeous countryside, crossing rivers and eating pastries filled with cream and berries and
other scrumptious stuff! We're stuffed, just like the pastries!

At one of the stations is must be "bring your son to work day" because the boy taking the tickets is about ten and his dad is looking on! He is so serious about his job! Check out the lockers in the station! We change to a bus and begin climbing, seeing patches of snow on the ground and the air begins to cool, a pleasant change! As you might expect, the road have horrendous curves!! When the snowbanks are as tall as the bus we know we must be close! Our destination is the highest point on the route and we will be staying in a Japanese inn with a traditional Japanese bath and dinner and breakfast included.

It is supposed to be a ten-minute walk to the inn. I'd have to say that the time wasn't
calculated when the path is completely covered in snow. We drag our bags through the wet stuff, hoping not to fall or twist an ankle. Nick and Ginger set a pace that Betsy and I can't begin to match but that's okay. We'll get there. Near the end, Ginger comes back to lend a hand. I'm just so grateful that Ginger was teasing when she pointed to the building on the top of the mountain and said that was where we were going! She takes my bag and Betsy and I pull hers together. Whew! Glad we survived that!

Guess what! We are the only guests at Tatiyama Nurodo Senso, so we have the run of the place! The hostess tells us later that during the next three months they are completely booked and that they often have two hundred sixth-graders who stay there before climbing the mountain! The weather is cool but not freezing and we all go for a walk to explore. Ginger, the intrepid trekker, goes for a much longer walk and we are all ready for dinner when she gets back. There is a little bit of blue sky and the mountains are majestic - as always. Who can resist their call? As the sun sets the light and shadows delineate the snow making the whole landscape slightly otherworldly.

Dinner is a never-ending feast of soup, rice, meatloaf, pickles, cherry tomatoes, salad, beans, a mild horseradish, edamame, sushimi, a white root with sweet miso sauce and tea. Our hostess,
Norito, tells us that she is so happy to hear people speaking "real English"! We tell her we're
not so sure ours is "real" and everyone has a giggle. Her daughter spent a year in the US as an
exchange student and is now studying "bio something" in grad school.

We can barely waddle back to our rooms to get ready for our soak. Since we are the only ones
here Norita, declares the men's bath, which is downstairs on the same floor as our rooms, to be coed. She puts up a sign with two hearts on it! We cleanse and climb into the hot, restorative water. Ginger has opened one of the windows that looks out toward the mountains and a cooling breeze blows in. We all do some gentle stretches to try to loosen up from the day's travails and it is perfect. We climb out and sit while we dry and eventually return to Nick and Ginger's room for the rest of our sake.

Good thing we had already laid our beds! I started with two futons but wound up with four! And I don't see how they use the little brick-like pillows, but the duvet was warm and wonderful and sleep came in moments!