Japan Virtual Vacation 2007

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Shikoku Island Tuesday, October 9, 2007 ***Abigail Winifred Stemmons is two years old today! *** Abigail is our beautiful and highly intelligent granddaughter, living with her also beautiful and highly intelligent parents, Scott and Jemma. When Scott was two years old, he called me a "pie face". I have forgiven him for that.
For those who don't know it, Japan has many islands. The main part of Japan is made up of four large islands, Hokkaido where we spent the first week, Honshu, the main most island where Tokyo is located, and our home town of Fujisawa, which is about an hour west of Tokyo. The other two main islands are Kyushu and Shikoku. Japan runs mainly north to south until you get to Tokyo, then it makes a bend and runs NE to SW. We have been in three of the main islands in the last few hours, traveling from Matsue on Honshu, under the ocean to Hakata on Kyushu. We then boarded another sleeping car bound for Himeji on Honshu. We had absolutely no need to go to Himeji, but that was a good train to sleep on, with private compartment…so we took it. 今日は四国を巡る予定。岡山発しおかぜ一号(7:23)に乗るのに、寝台なはで早朝岡山で降りて待っているのも嫌なので、なはで姫路まで行って、それから新幹線で岡山に戻ることにしました。しおかぜ一号はグリーン車がないので、ちょっと窮屈。瀬戸大橋を渡る時は、雨が降り出し、せっかくの景色が残念でした。この数日お天気がどうもすっきりしません。まあ2週間旅行すればそういう日があっても仕方ないか。
Passing the longest rail bridge	In the street car	Street car
From Himeji we went back to Okayama, where they sell a famous Japanese treat, the Kibi dango. If you have never tasted a kibi dango…well, you just haven't lived! They have a unique flavor all their own and the texture is like a gummy bear, only much softer. I don't know what they are made out of…it is just better to leave some questions unasked. We rode several shinkansen trains yesterday. These are the famous Japanese "bullet trains" and well-named. One that we rode was traveling at 178 miles per hour. You are probably wondering, "What if a musk ox or cow walks onto the tracks"? Try not to think about that. Besides, I don't think we have any musk oxen, and precious few cows, except in Hokkaido. I am not sure what happened to all the cows. We just crossed the bridge from Honshu to Shikoku, where we plan to spend the day. We'll go back to Honshu tonight to find another sleeping car. With the package deal we got, our "hotel" is already paid for, and it keeps right on rolling along. 最初は四国の西半分を巡る予定でしたが、一部ローカル線にのらなければならないし、ジョンの腰も痛そうだし、今晩岡山から寝台なはで熊本へと思っていたけど、そうなるとかなり遅い時間になり体にもきついので、そうそうに岡山に戻って新幹線で新大阪までいって、寝台車に乗ってゆっくりすることにしました。
	Left: Juicer Bar at Shin-Osaka Station
	Right: Evening rush People waiting for their train
Kibi dango special kibi dango is a millet dumpling.It has a story like, there was a boy going out to the island of ogres to exterminate ogres. Parents gave him Kibidango when he left home. On the way he met a monkey, a dog, and a pheasand. They asked him to give Kibidango. He told them if they come together to fight against ogres, he would give them kibidango. If you want to know the whole story, click this link; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momotar%C5%8D 岡山でジョンの好物のキビだんごを買いました！
Package	Inside
	Delicious! I love Kibidango
Today's travel distance:657miles=1050km