Eric and Rose's Blog

Recent Photos

2011-06-04T03:05:00.001-07:00

Some recent pics I've taken around Misawa...

Black & White

2011-04-29T23:28:00.001-07:00

Hirosaki Sakura Festival...

Noda Cleanup

2011-04-23T04:22:00.000-07:00

I was down in Noda town about a week an a half ago helping clean up tsunami damage. This is all volunteer work, but the Japanese like seeing us out in uniform. Noda is about 2 hours south of where we're at here in Misawa.

Photoshop Tricks

2011-04-14T04:10:00.001-07:00

Just learning some simple photoshop tricks. Photoshop is alot of fun, but its easy to get carried away.

The Girls

2011-04-09T02:18:00.000-07:00

Took the girls down to Komaki Onsen for a photo shoot. I was extremely unhappy with my lens's ability to focus, but I suppose you can't complain too much about a $90 lens. I still managed to get a couple of good shots.

I Love My Bike

2011-04-08T03:37:00.001-07:00

If there's one good thing that came out of the earthquake its that folks had to live a few days without an endless supply of gasoline. I've taken the opportunity to take another crack at serious bicycle commuting. I say serious commuting, but I only live a 12 minute bike ride from work. Regardless, I've managed to use my car about 3 times in the past 3+ weeks. And, I really enjoy it. My new Fuji Cross Comp isn't the fastest or prettiest, but its the perfect bike for zipping to and from work and around town on errands. Plus, it looks good with mud on it.

Photography in Tokyo

2011-01-22T00:00:00.000-08:00

I got to spend half a day running around Tokyo this weekend and it worked out very well. I'm not a big fan of large cities, but I love taking pictures of colorful people and big cities offer so much more opportunity. I could easily spend 2-3 days taking pictures just between Shinjuku and Harajuku.

Photography in the Philippines

2011-01-14T03:47:00.001-08:00

The Philippines seems like an obvious place to practice some photography. But, its not without its challenges. First, having been there so many times, I sometimes have trouble stepping back and seeing what I once found exotic or interesting about the place. Second, Filipinos love cameras. It can sometimes be extremely difficult to get a candid shot or a picture without a dozen little kids trying to squeeze into the frame.

Christmas in the Philippines

2010-12-25T02:26:00.000-08:00

Before its too late, I wanted to get up a few pics from our Philippines Xmas.
We got to go to Marlon's school and see a nice little reenactment of the Nativity.

The Philippines version varies a bit from the one we're familiar with....two of the kings were of middle eastern origin while the third was actually Liberace.

Rose came up with the fabulous idea of dressing me up as Santa Claus.

Rose had put together dozens of plastic gift bags for the village residents and candy for the kids. The bags essentially guaranteed most of them would at least have a Christmas dinner of ramen, eggs, and tuna.

Messing With Photography

2010-10-07T02:00:00.000-07:00

Trying to get better with my camera...and Adobe Photoshop;)

Who's Raising Our Children?

2010-09-01T03:01:00.000-07:00

Had an important day with the girls today. Its always been said that "a boy needs a father". Well, girls need fathers too. We often leave the raising of ladies to the women. There are important life lessons which mothers too often either cannot provide or simply neglect the need to provide. Today, Angelica and Helen learned about Queen and now appreciate the ritual of cranking the stereo up and screaming Freddie Mercury lyrics out the car window. Who else is going to teach them these things, their mother? I thnk not. This is your job dads.

Festival Time

2010-08-28T00:58:00.000-07:00

Well, its festival season in Japan. One thing about Japan is that they're crazy about festivals. Particularly during the summer and fall, you could easily go to a differnent festival every weekend. There are salmon festivals, garlic and beef festivals, blossom festivals, apple festivals, cherry festivals, etc, etc, etc. I've always been one to avoid festivals...not because they're not interesting, but because I've never been a fan of crowds. But, we attended a couple this weekend and and it was pretty fun. The first festival was the annual Misawa city festival. It consisted of alot of folk music/dance performances, food booths, and a couple of parades. The ice cream guy...

A little drum major...

Why does the fat kid always play tuba?

His World of Warcraft username is HannibalTheAnimal128.

The kids' fave...

The next day, we took a trip to Aomori City to check out some shopping malls. We didn't intend to go to any festivals, but ran into this one on accident. There was a set of perfoming groups who appeared to be competing with eachother.

The groups were mostly women and young girls with a few guys mixed in. They were doing an action-packed, martial-arts style of synchronized dancing.

They were all dressed alike and performing when...

Blam!!! They'd flip their outfit and all of a sudden, be in a different colored outfit. As I said, there were several different group performances, and the outfit changing thing was common among them all.

There uniforms also consisted of umbrellas, fans, etc. The dance routine was pretty amazing in itself. But more fascinating was a part of the performance behind the dancers...

Each dancing group had one or two guys in the back with these gigantic flags. They were waving them around along with the music and it just sent chills down your spine to experience it.

To stand there and wave such a huge flag took a ton of strength and balance.....

and a badass hairdo...

Daisetsuzan 2010

2010-07-21T22:14:00.000-07:00

Well, one trip I'd been planning for months was a summer backpacking trip with Angelica. I wanted it to be 4-5 days and decided to head up to Daisetsuzan National Park in Hokkaido. I did the entire traverse of this park with Ryan Connell last August. It started out with an 8 hour train ride to Asawikawa and a 1-hour taxi ride to Asahidake Onsen. We camped our first night at the base of Asahidake (Mount Asahi).

Now, that's a badass shemagh. If you don't know about the shemagh, you probably don't have a need to know. Not even Chuck Norris ever wore a shemagh. That's right, not even Chuck Norris.

On the lookout for Hokkaido Brown Bears on our way up Asahidake.

While I expected to see more snow being up there a month earlier than last year, I was really impressed by the size of the icefields remaining in July. They made for some challenging traverses.

Angelica was a trooper the whole trip...

Pretty flowers...

Beautiful mountain vistas....

Late on the first day, massive cloud formations started to break over the horizon... We spent our first night at the Hakuun Dake tentsite. After a whole night of heavy rain and winds buckling our tent over, we decided to head towards the edge of the park. The second day was much more challenging than I could have imagined. We spent the whole day working towards Ishimuro Cabin which is the most comfortable cabin in Daisetsuzan and has the easiest escape route out of the park. I just had no idea how difficult it would be to get there. The entire day, we were confronted with stinging rain and wind gusts nearly capable of knocking you off your feet. The normal route from Hakuun Dake to Ishumuro Cabin normally takes only a couple of hours. But, about 20 minutes from the cabin, we found the trail ending at a collapsed snow bridge, about 50 feet above an angry river. Because of poor visibility and extremely slippery snowfield conditions, we were forced to make a 5 hour detour along a safer route. Even the safer route got the better of me. At one point, I lost my footing and took a 50-meter tumble with my 50lb pack down a 30-degree snowfield. Luckily, I escaped with a bruised leg and a broken backpack strap. About an hour later, we arrived at Ishimuro Cabin, cold, wet, and tired. As can always be expected, the Japanese folks at the cabin took care of us and ensured we got warmed up and fed. Due to the weather, we were forced to spend 2 nights at Ishimuro Cabin. On day 4, we hiked out of the park under sunny skies. We spent our 4th night at a cozy youth hostel in Sounkyo Gorge. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures after the morning of day 2 due to water getting into my camera lens.

That's right...not even Chuck Norris.....

Time Off

2010-07-15T22:03:00.000-07:00

After getting home from Afghanistan, I got 2 weeks off to hang out with the girls. Angelica and Helen love this rope swing at the Misawa Train Park. They can spend hours on that thing.

We went to the beach to fly a kite and look for seashells. Helen's our little model...alway ready to strike a pose when the camera's zoomed in from afar.

And, we were able to get back on the granite. Even after 6 months off, Angelica and Helen hit it like they never missed a day.

More Fun in Kandahar

2010-06-24T09:11:00.000-07:00

For Chief Mondloch's birthday, we had a pirate party.

The "Poo Pond"

2010-06-21T07:02:00.000-07:00

Yes, a big pond of poo.

Afghanistan Update

2010-06-04T07:33:00.000-07:00

Well, its been awhile since I provided an update and I’m sure everyone’s excited to see how the war on terror is going. So, here’s a hodgepodge of happenings since my last update.

Anyone who’s ever looked at pics of old airplanes is familiar with the old nose art once popular on our warbirds. Well, aside from an occasional shark mouth or the warthog paint on the A-10, this practice has become somewhat taboo. You’ll no longer see a girl in a bathing suit emblazoned on the nose of a bomber or anything like that. One thing that has become popular is the painting of barricades. Here at Kandahar, we have these concrete slabs all over the place to help protect us from enemy fire. Some units have left these awesome paintings to be remembered by.
Barricade art left by the 175th Fighter Wing out of Baltimore, Maryland.
Barricade art left by the 188th Fighter Wing out of Fort Smith, Arkansas. I spent another Saturday with the boys at the Bazaar School. This time, I brought some Explosives Ordinance Disposal guys along. We started out with some crafts…

And then broke out the cool stuff!

For a robot that’s designed to take explosive blasts, I was surprised it made it through the abuse of these Afghan boys. This poor thing took a barrage of kicks, steps, and twists as the boys interacted with something that was clearly alien to them.

This is my good buddy, Mark Allen. Mark Allen is with the Fort Smith, Arkansas Air National Guard “Flying Razorbacks”. That’s a bottle of nonalcoholic Beck’s in front of him.

One of the highlights of my tour here was the opportunity to work with two different Air National Guard outfits. The thing I liked the most about them was their sense of identity. Being an active-duty guy, I’ve been assigned to about 10 different outfits. Most of us active-duty guys don’t get too excited about any particular unit. Its really not that big of a deal. With the Air National Guard guys, it’s a REAL BIG DEAL. There are guys that will stay with the same ANG unit for 30 or 40 years. For some, it’s a family tradition with fathers, sons, mothers, and daughters all serving generation after generation in the same outfit. While deployed, they advertise their presence everywhere….paintings on barricades, stickers on the General’s car, and, of course, the flag of the great state of Arkansas flying over some of our compounds.

I’ve recently had a few opportunities to hang out with the folks out at the Afghan National Army Air Corps outfit here on Kandahar. One of the big pushes with the war effort is getting these guys prepared to eventually take over the defense of the country. This seems like an awesome task. They’re basically trying to stand up a semi-modern military from the ground up. Some of these guys went from having no military experience to being in charge of an entire unit. Many of them sign on at great risk to themselves or their families. They are really great guys to hang out with and I really wish them the best of luck. This is some of us in front of the MI-17 helicopter, an old Russian helicopter they maintain and fly.

Last week, the ANAAC folks invited us out to a BBQ. It was a fun and interesting experience. One interesting thing was that they had the same Michael Jackson song playing over and over….guess old Jacko was just as popular in Afghanistan. The food was awesome. I asked to take a picture of the spread and this guy thought I wanted a picture of him…not sure who he was.

A picture of the spread…

And, my plate…goat on a skewer, rice with a subtle, sweet raisin flavor, spicy meatballs, honeydew, and some Afghan peaches? The only thing that didn’t taste all that great was the hamburger patty.

We recently had our own BBQ as well. I got to organize a cookout for well over 500 folks. This here is Captain Brighton cooking up a shit ton of brats and chicken breasts. My coworkers and I have had lengthy discussions over what exactly a “shit ton” is. We’ve decided that it is military term of measurement which is slightly larger than a “shit load” and somewhat less than an “ass ton”. In this case, it was precisely enough to feed over 500 Airmen. And yes, that is an Arkansas Razorback carved out of the side of that grill. Remember what I said about advertising their presence?

Mmmmm….battered and fried calamari rings……

To close out my update, I’ll showcase our famous AMMO goat. This little guy hangs out at the bomb dump and pretty much keeps the place tidy by eating absolutely everything in sight. He’s a friendly fella and was quick to nuzzle up to me. Around the time I took this photo, I was reading a book called “The Snow Leopard” about a man’s trek into the Himalaya to study the behavior of the mountain goats up there. In the book, the author goes into great detail about the mating habits of Himalayan mountain goats. Did you know that certain goats actually urinate into their own mouths during mating season? My AMMO Lieutenant was nice enough to inform me that this guy does the same thing. Nice…

451st EMXS

2010-03-08T06:29:00.000-08:00

My unit here at Kandahar, the 451st Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron. I'm just left of center on the front row.

Kandahar Marathon

2010-03-07T00:09:00.000-08:00

Well, we had the 1st ever Kandahar Air Field Full/Half Marathon Sunday. I was really excited about it when I first got here. I kind of feel that the best foot races are the ones that suck the most. Anyone who enjoys running those distances is just a loon. When I run long distances, I'm trying to see if I can push my body through another extremely sucky episode. While I do actually enjoy most of the race, the misery of the last few miles more than makes up for any joy I get out of the first 20 miles. So, after hearing about the Kandahar marathon I thought, "Wow, I just can't imagine too much that could be suckier than running 26.2 miles in southern Afghanistan." Its generally hot and dusty except for the few occasions where the monsoon turns the place into a huge mud pit. If the dust doesn't get to you, the exhaust fumes from the hundreds of humvees, MRAPs, and Pakistani jingle trucks is guaranteed to drive up the suck factor. On top of that, there's guaranteed to be no throngs of spectators cheering you through the finish as in the more popular marathons. You're guaranteed a considerable amount of time with just you and a dusty Afghan road. So, to cut a long story short, I started prepping for it.
My training went very well for the first 6 weeks or so and then it started falling apart. Late night responses, homework, and work issues were pretty much taking up the little training time I had available. So, I signed up for the half marathon instead and stopped training. I was set on this option all the way up through the night before the race when I started wondering if I could finish the full marathon. The morning of the race, I decided that I would pace myself and see how I was holding up during the half. About a mile before reaching the half marathon finish line, I decided to go with the full marathon. Everyone who knew I had signed up for the half marathon looked at me kind of funny when I continued past the finish line. I was actually pretty happy about my 4:24 finish time considering the lack of training and the last minute decision to run the whole race.

Me and a few of the guys before the race. #33, Mike Bunting is a marathon maniac. He finished in a blazing 2:51 even having taken a half-mile detour during the race. He's set to run Boston when he gets home this month.

Despite the challenges, I'll have to say that this turned out to be one of the more interesting races I've run. While running, I was entertained by the rattle of Blackhawks and Chinooks, the rumble of Tornadoes taking off with full afterburner, and even a couple Russion-era heavy cargo planes landing. I nearly got ran over by a British convoy driver who apparently felt that his task at hand was more important than my little race. This little Explosives Ordinance Disposal robot was even handing out water bottles to the runners. In the end, I was just thankful that no rocket attacks forced us to take cover during the race.

No matter where you live in the world, fire trucks are the coolest

2010-02-23T06:37:00.000-08:00

The highlight of each week here at the KAF is each Saturday when I volunteer at the "Bazaar School". At the school, we host about 30 Afghan boys for 3 hours of education and activities. This week was particularly fun as I was able to coordinate a fire truck exhibition.

As one can imagine, these boys had never seen a real, modern fire truck. Fires in Afghanistan are still fought with archaic equipment or even buckets of water.

Sitting in the cab...

Wearing a real fireman hat...

And the highlight of the show....the fire hose!!! Worried we would have kids flying around on the end of the hose, I did my best to keep it under control. It got particularly difficult when 3 or 4 of the boys would hang on the valve with it in the "on" position making it hard for me to turn it back off.

When the boys are good, we get to hand out goodies. They each received a bag full of school supplies and a baseball cap.

4 More Years

2010-02-01T18:58:00.001-08:00

Well, this enlistment will put me out to 19 and a half years...so I'm not officially a lifer yet...My reenlistments have all been pretty boring events. But, I have to say...that is one badass plane.

Life on the KAF

2010-01-23T21:14:00.000-08:00

Well, I just wanted to give everyone an update on what I've been doing over here and perhaps provide a glimpse into the life a First Sergeant at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan. On Saturdays, our base hosts a bazaar where local vendors sell their wares to us. Many of the vendors bring along children, all little boys, and allow us to interact with them by playing games and such. This Saturday, we came up with some sports activities which included tug-o-war. For this event, the Afghan men couldn't resist getting involved.

It quickly turned into mass chaos with the children tying one end of the rope to a pick-up truck and then trying to tie up the GIs. It didn't go as planned, but was still all good fun.

I saw this little beauty parked next to a building. After some research, I found that both the Russians and Chinese manufactured knock-off versions of the BMW R71. I believe this is a knock-off with a BMW logo put on it. Its still a neat looking bike.

Our First Sergeants Council had a going away party for the folks leaving. You'll notice everyone has a going away gift except me. They've since left and I'm the "old guy" on camp.

B....7.....

Afghanistan Bound

2009-12-26T07:20:00.000-08:00

Well, my trip to Kandahar was interesting.
They put us up in these sweet accomodations during our short layover at Manas, Air Base, Kyrgystan.

My last beer of the year (and for the next 6 months) was a Baltika #9. At Manas, you're only allowed two beers per 20 hour period. I asked the bartender what the best local beer was. He recommended the Batika #5. I tried it and it wasn't a bad beer. But, for my second, I decided on the Baltika #9. The "#" of the Baltika beer tells you the strength of the beer with the #9 having the highest alcohol content, and stoutness. Having tried a couple, I definitely recommend the #9. When you can only have two, its definitely the best beer.

For our trip from Manas to Kandahar, we had two C-130 legs...First Class, of course. The flight, while not the most comfortable, was quite incredible. We flew right over the Hindu Kush mountains. I took a little bit of video footage out the window, but wasn't able to upload to the blog because of my crappy internet connection over here. There's really no way to describe the size and vastness of a Himalayan mountain range. It was simply awesome. Sweet digs.

Hanging Out in Norfolk

2009-12-24T07:24:00.000-08:00

Well, over the holidays, I got held up at Norfolk, Virginia. Luckily, I had good friends in the area. It was nice seeing old friends and finally meeting Ethan and Erik. Thanks to Buz, Bob, and Kristine for putting up with me during the holidays!

Amihari Onsen, Winter Mountaineering, and Hiking Kilts

2009-12-04T20:34:00.000-08:00

Ryan and I decided to do a "guy's weekend" before my deployment. We planned on one day of travel, camping out, and visiting onsens followed by a one-day winter summit of Mount Iwate.
We actually visited two onsens, but one was simply much nicer than the other. Amihari Onsen has hot, slightly sulfuric water piped straight down from an active steam vent on the back side of Mount Iwate. I enjoyed a hot bath outside in the winter air with snow-covered mountains in the background. The water had a tinge of sulfur odor and my skin could feel the difference between the volcanic water and a regular bath.

This is the second time I've visited a Japanese Onsen. If you've never heard of them, I highly advise looking it up online and visiting one if you get a chance. The first time is a little awkward. You basically walk into a room full of naked Japanese men washing themselves next to these little sinks. After you wash up, you walk outside, naked, and slip into the bath. Once you get over your modesty, its a quite enjoyable experience.

While hiking through Daisetsuzan National Park last summer, I remarked to Ryan that the only thing that could be cooler than making the hike was making the hike in a kilt! Well, I recently found out that Mountain Hardwear made a "mountain kilt." While it doesn't bear much resemblance to an authentic Scottish kilt, I'm a new fan. This thing is quite simply the most comfortable garment I've ever worn. I'll leave it at that:)

We grilled out at the trailhead. Rather than pitching a tent, we decided we'd throw our sleeping bags out right under the BBQ awning. I'm not sure I'd try that in the U.S., but we felt safe sleeping out in the open in Japan.

A big meal to get ready for the next day's hike...

During our bivy, the wind really picked up and it started to snow. I woke up to find the top of my bag coated with ice. I was concerned that my new down bag would get wet and let me get cold. But, our shelter and equipment allowed us to have a comfortable night despite the inclimate weather.

The next day we awoke to a thin covering of snow. We suited up and headed up Mount Iwate.

At just over 2000 meters, Mount Iwate is the tallest mountain in the Tohoku. During the summer time, its just a strenuous day hike. During the wintertime, you need snowshoes and crampons.

Nothing keeps your body warm and energy stores full like a block of cheddar cheese.

Pulling up into the Iwatesan "ampitheater."

View from the ampitheater.

Mount Iwate looks like a nearly perfect cone when viewed from the east. At about 1800 meters, there is a large flat area which extends off the southside of the mountain. In this "ampitheater", you find two of the three cabins on Mount Iwate. The one in this picture is locked up in the winter. During the summertime, a lucky hiker may find Japanese hikers being generous with their delicious food and sake.

Once you pull up onto the crater, its just a short walk to the summit. But, being the highest point around, you get hammered by 50-70 MPH winds blowing in from Siberia. This is the most dangerous point of the climb as any bare skin can become quickly frozen and unprotected eyes can become snow blind.

Last winter, due to weather, I failed to summit Mount Iwate. I instead spent a night inside a rescue cabin about 300 meters below the summit. I was happy to come back this year and make the winter summit.

There's nothing like a hot bowl of spicy ramen after a cold day on the mountain.

Asamushi Aquarium

2009-11-28T18:55:00.000-08:00

Rose wanted to take the kids to the Asamushi Aquarium in Aomori City.
I was pretty happy with it. Admission cost 3000 yen (~$30) for 3 adults and 2 children.

The dolphin show, as always, was alot of fun.

We finally got a glimpse of the elusive giant salamander.

The highlight of the tour was the dolphin feeding. We were able to stand around a very small pool and watch the dolphins get fed. It made for a very intimate experience with the dolphins.

The dolphins also did a few trips. Its one thing watching a dolphin show from the stands, but there's nothing quite like seeing them do flips right in front of you.

100 Yen Sushi

2009-11-27T18:11:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in awhile, but I've collected a couple stories, so here goes with the first. One of our favorite restaurants is a 100 yen sushi restaurant. Here in Japan, 100 yen is roughly equivalent to $1 U.S. So, instead of having a "dollar store", we have a 100 yen store, and so on.

At the 100 yen sushi store, you sit in a booth next to a carousel where plates of sushi pass you by. When you see something you like, you just grab it.
Helen and Angelica both like the shrimp tempura. "Tempura" is basically anything deep-fat fried. With sushi, the big piece of fried shrimp is laid on top of a block of rice with some mayonnaise between.
One of my favorites is this concoction. Its raw salmon laid on top of a block of rice with wasabi sauce in between. Sliced onion and some sort of salad dressing is put on top.

Another type of shrimp tempura sushi. Here, the fried shrimp is rolled up in rice and a seaweed wrapoper.

This is minced seafood (shrimp and squid) with a mayonnaise-based dressing on top of rice and wrapped with a seaweed wrapper.

You can also get a bowl of miso soup at the sushi restaurant. Helen always likes to eat the shellfish miso.

After you're done eating, the waiter counts up you plates and charges you 100 yen per plate! The miso soup cost 157 yen.

Nuidoishi Yama Take 2

2009-11-01T01:18:00.001-07:00

Awhile back, Ryan and I took a shot at Nuidoishi Yama. Its a 100-meter multi-pitch climb up in Shimokita. The pitches are tough (5.10a-5.11b) and they become overgrown with moss and lichen. We accepted failure at the top of the first pitch.
So, we naturally decided we could make it if we came back with more gear. I even brought along a bit of aid gear.

We made it up about two more meters with the extra gear, but we kept getting stuck at a nasty 5.11 overhang. The climb wasn't impossible, but a missed move would have caused Ryan to pendulum into a sharp granite ridge. So we once again accepted defeat and headed back to the car.

On the way back, we were surprised by a very friendly Akita who followed us down the trail.

As if our day couldn't get any worse, he continuously tried to violate us, and every other hiker who came down the trail that morning.

Race the Base Half Marathon

2009-09-29T02:03:00.000-07:00

Well, we had our 2nd ever Race the Base half-marathon on Sunday. They had a 5K, a 10K, a half-marathon, and a kid's 3K. Angelica and Helen ran the 3K and I ran the half-marathon.
Angelica ran well and finished strong...

Helen lost interest about half-way through the race and I had to go back and help her finish. Once we got her going again, she finished strong as well....

I ran a 1:45:02. I felt pretty good about the time considering I haven't really trained much since the Tokyo marathon in March. I figured I could live with getting beat by Buz, but it was a kick in the shin seeing the photo finish of myself getting beat by this guy...

I hope I can run like that when I'm 80. I've decided to hit the running hard again with plans to run the Hokkaido marathon next August.

Nuidoishi Yama

2009-09-19T02:52:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I made a 2-day exploratory trip to Shimokita peninsula to verify rumors of big, climbable walls. We had a late start and made most of the trip after dark. I almost ran over 5 serows and an odd anteater-looking animal. At the trailhead, we slept in the car and woke up at 0500 to see a huge, granite rock overlooking us...Nuidoishi Yama. After a 5-hour approach from hell, we found the base of the rock with nice new climbing anchors in place. There was beta in a tupperward container at the base which showed 8 pitches ranging from 5.10a-5.11b. The first pitch was 5.10a and Ryan led it pretty easy. Being beat from the approach in and pretty new to leading, we didn't attempt the next pitch. But, we did discover an easy 30-minute approach for next time. I'll bring my aid gear as well next time to ensure we can get further up the climb.

Nuidoishi Yama

President's School Address

2009-09-08T03:11:00.001-07:00

Well, Obama delivered his long awaited speech to school children and all the hoopla was apparently just hype. I was a bit disappointed, having two young daughters ripe for indoctrination into Obama's socialist army. I sat outside the schoolhouse this afternoon, eagerly waiting for the flood of newly brainwashed 9-year olders to emerge from the school doors burning their bras and brandishing picket signs. But, I didn't see so much as a black armband or a single fist of power thrust into the air. Apparently, they were just told to do their best and to stay in school.

Seriously...I don't normally voice my political views here, but the hype generated around our President wanting to address school children is rediculous. Some guy on Fox News went as far as to say that the president shouldn't have a relationship with school children. He basically said that such practices lead to personality cults such as those which supported Hitler or Stalin. There's a huge gap between hearing a back to school speech and singing praise to our Dear Leader. I'm also not so sure there's anything wrong with our children admiring our elected leader. One of the clearest memories I have of my early school days is making a jelly bean birthday card and sending it off to Ronald Reagan. I thought Ronald Reagan was just about the coolest guy on earth. Anyone who knows me now can see just how much correlation there is between my youthful admiration of Ronald Reagan and my adult political views.

Daisetsuzan Traverse

2009-08-18T17:39:00.000-07:00

Well, Ryan and I made it through our epic hiking trip. We had planned on 4 and a half days of hiking, but were able to pull in exactly 24 hours earlier than expected. It rained for 2 of the 4 days, but was absolutely gorgeous thoughout. Many of the vistas were what I would expect in parts of Canada or Alaska. We saw 4 grizzly bears on our first day, but all from afar. We slept in a cabin the first night, as the cabin curator warned us that two grizzlies were seen walking through the tent area the night prior. We didn't see any bears for the rest of the trip, but saw large deer, tons of chipmunks, alot of frogs, and all sorts of birds and insects. The hike was extremely strenous in the time we did it. We were putting in 12 hour hiking days. We finished off our last day with some Asahi beer and a soak in the onsen. Later on, I may sort through the pics and put up descriptions, but for now, here's a slideshow.

BTW...I've been having technical difficulties with my photo sharing site, so check back regularly if you're having troubles viewing them...

Daisetsuzan Traverse

Update

2009-08-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

Haven't blogged in awhile...been busy fighting the war on terror here in northern Japan;) Angelica and Helen will be going back to school at the end of the month. Rose has managed to eat out with her friends nearly every day this month. Rose's mom is always working with her two jobs.

I'm still climbing just about every weekend. I've nearly mastered the art of rappelling. Other than some cuts and bruises, I've managed to avoid any major mishaps.

I'm leaving on an epic trip next weekend. My friend, Ryan, and I are hiking the Daisetsuzan Traverse. The trip will be a 5-day hike atop the Daisetsuzan mountain range in northern Hokkaido. Its supposed to be incredible backcountry full of hot springs and grizzly bears. The weather can also be notably harsh...10 Japanese hikers died from exposure there about 3 weeks ago. I'll post pics and stories when we get back.

Charlie Don't Surf!

2009-07-09T21:16:00.000-07:00

Before setting off for the Philippines, I had decided that I was going to get my open water scuba certification at Puerto Galera and that I would try surfing at Baler. I often make plans like this before vacationing in the Philippines, but my plans often fall through. Many times, I find myself quickly disenchanted by the areas I visit in the Philippines. The really great places in the Philippines are often packed with tourists or way overrated. Other places may offer one or two really great things, but the other aspects simply annoy. Baguio's not bad if you can get over the poor air quality. Sagada's beautiful, but they try to charge you to just walk around. Puerto Galera doesn't seem to offer much beyond good diving. Montalban is a rare climbing spot, but is almost too dirty to enjoy. Boracay is simply wonderful if you're the type who likes a crowded "party" atmosphere on gorgeous white sand beaches. etc, etc, etc.... As was the usual, my vacation was half over and I'd given up my plans to visit Baler. But, while sitting at a restaurant on what used to be Clark Air Force Base, I happened to see an airline magazine with an article on Baler. The pictures looked nice as they always do. But, while magazine pictures are often misleading, I took it as a sign and decided to go anyway.
Since coming to live in Japan, I've come to believe that life is best enjoyed when you rise early as opposed to stay up late. We left Rose's village at 0400 and, at about 0530, we were given this wonderful view of the morning mist rising from the Cordilleras. This drive was rather fantastic. It was slow and bumpy and the locals all seemed pleasantly surprised to see a white person taking the rough ride over the mountains. The temperature was cool, the air was fresh, and the landscapes were green. I didn't see the dusty clutter common throughout central Luzon.

When we reached Baler, we headed for Barangay Sabang. We found there a nice scene of the bay with empty beach for as far as we could see.

Baler is what I would call "pleasantly developed". There are only a few beach-side hotels/restaurants and the rest of the town seems undisturbed by tourism and surprisingly clean for a town in the Philippines. I saw no McDonalds, no mall, not even a chain grocery store. If you wanted anything, you had to visit the local market. But, while lacking these amenities spreading across the rest of the Philippines like crab grass, there were still a few comfortable establishments where you could enjoy decent western food along the water's edge. An additional plus is that I only saw two street vendors during the entire trip. One was a peanut vendor and the other was a lady selling fresh fish. They were friendly and unaggressive. The peanuts were just in time for the San Miguel beer we were enjoying. I found the the locals to be great as well. While I think Philipinos are among the friendliest on earth, it is often difficult to tell whether they are sincere or not. The Baler locals seemed very laid back and friendly. Many would say that its like that everywhere in the Philippines, but I felt something different with Baler.

Anyone whose seen Apocalypse Now likely remembers the famous helicoptor assault scene with Robert Duvall's character. In this scene, Colonel Kilmore (Duvall) shows Lance how the waves break both left and right around the river delta. He tells Lance to go surf while he holds the beach.

This is "Charlie's Point" where the scene in the movie was filmed. While it doesn't quite look the same 30 years later and with the movie set gone, you can see the waves breaking as Kilmore described.

I'd always wanted to try surfing, so I checked out one of the few surfshops along the beach. While I thought it a bit pricey, I paid 300 pisos (US$6) for board rental and surfing instructor for an hour.

While the waves were very small today, I gave it a shot.

My brother-in-law, Alpie, gave it a shot as well.

As with most hobbies, surfing is harder than it looks.

With about 30 minutes of practice (and a timely camera capture), I was able to walk away with this shot of me actually surfing.

Me and my instructor, Chris. Overall, I give Baler very high marks and plan to return. I anticipate even more fun with better surf conditions.

Puerto Galera, Mindoro, Philippines

2009-07-02T20:17:00.000-07:00

During my recent trip to the Philippines, I visited Puerto Galera in Mindoro Province. I stayed in Barangay Sabang during the visit. Barangay Sabang sits on a relatively heavily developed bay full of hotels, resaurants, and dive shops.

There were several narrow alleys full of street vendors and girls offering massages. While I understand this is all due to economics, nothing bugs me more than these "pesky" folks who latch on to every tourist that walks by. Local transportation...

But, the biggest reason I came to Puerto Galera was to get my open water SCUBA certification at one of the Philippines' better dive locations. After shopping around the internet, I found the best deal at VIP Dive Resort. For $25 less than getting open water certified in Japan, I was able to get the course and 3 nights accomodation right behind the dive shop...cheap and convenient.

John Barrett was my instructor and the owner of VIP. I was lucky enought to get one-on-one instruction for the entire open water course. I found the course rather easy. I can see it taking significantly longer if I would have shared the course with other students. I'm very happy with my experience in the course.

This guy (can't recall his name) went on a couple of boat dives with us. I really enjoyed the scuba diving. On the first couple of dives, I was so focused on maneuvering in the water and controlling myself in the current that I missed alot of the scenery. But, once I got the hang of it and was able to relax, I was able to take more of it in. On my last dive, I got to spend 5 minutes about a yard from a rather large leatherback turtle. He was just sitting on the bottom munching on something...indifferent to the three divers staring at him.

Overall, I wasn't a huge fan of what I saw of Puerto Galera. Aside from the diving, I think I'd prefer to spend my time elsewhere. It was just a little too noisy and crowded for my tastes.

My First Aid Climb

2009-06-22T05:27:00.000-07:00

I've been slowly collecting quite a bit of climbing gear and decided to try out some aid climbing. Aid climbing is a gear-intensive, anything-goes style of climbing generally used to climb 1000 foot walls like the ones in Yosemite.

But, there are no walls anywhere near me like that, so I decided to try out some aid climbing down at Tanesashi Seaside outside Hachinohe.It was good practice setting gear and such, but I did look a little rediculous climbing a 15-foot boulder with my huge rack;)

Asian Pacific Heritage Dinner

2009-05-31T02:28:00.000-07:00

Those who've been around the Air Force long enough are familiar with our many ethnic heritage events. Friday night, we celebrated Asian-Pacific heritage here at Misawa. It was a really fun event with...
hula dancing...

a polynesian rythym show...

friends, Japanese beer...

and my sweet barong (fancy white filipino shirt).

The highlight of the evening was probably our guest speaker, Mr Akebono. Mr Akebono is famous for becoming the first foreign-born grand champion sumo wrestler. After retirement, he went on to wrestle a bit in some "entertainment" wrestling leagues to include the WWE. He was actually very modest and could really put down the Coronas.

Girl Power!

2009-05-25T03:50:00.000-07:00

We took Angelica, Helen, Arie, and McKenzie rock climbing today. We all had alot of fun and the four little girls really stepped their climbing up a notch.

Climbing - Samaraihama 25 May 09

We're still here!

2009-05-16T21:59:00.000-07:00

Some folks have been complaining that I don't update my blog enough. So, I figured I'd drop in and post a couple of pics. Friday night, Helen and Angelica had their last Brownie sleepover of the (school) year. They each received a certificate and Angelica "bridged" over to Junior Girl Scouts. I guess it gets serious now with merit badges and that sort of thing. Today, we all worked on Angelica's pinata project. They'll be decorating it in her spanish class. I've also started a new Misawa rock climbing website. If you'd like to check that out, you can go to http://sites.google.com/site/misawaclimbers/. It has plenty of pics and that sort of thing.

Tokyo Marathon

2009-03-23T03:31:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally did something I'd been talking about for a long time. I ran my first marathon. All I can say is that it is harder than I had ever imagined. I think that nowadays its so common to meet someone who has ran a marathon that it leads you to minimalize the accomplishment. I've been in some pretty miserable predicaments on some of my outdoor adventures and such, but none of them came close to the last 6 miles of the marathon. It really goes beyond the physical realm we normally associate with running activities. I totally overestimated my physical ability (blew the last month of training but decided to "wing" it anyway) and totally underestimated the importance of pacing yourself and the mental aspect of pushing your body forward when it is screaming at you to stop. That being said, my muscles are in slightly less pain than yesterday and my mind has already started to forget the feelings of death from yesterday. I can say rather assuredly that I'll run one again.

Marakina

2008-12-29T02:27:00.000-08:00

We spent the night in Marakina, Manila and I hung out with the guys drinking Red Horse beer.

Nothing goes with Red Horse like a little balot.

For those of you who don't know, balot is a chicken egg hard-boiled right before its supposed to hatch.

Mmmm...

Ahmmmm....

Montalban

2008-12-28T14:42:00.000-08:00

I had brought my rock climbing harness/shoes/helmet along on the trip to the PI, but was having a hard time finding anywhere to actually climb. To rock climb, you need an exposed rock face, the equipment, and a partner. Despite the presence of mountains all over the Philippines, exposed rock faces are surprisingly difficult to find. Its as if the lush tropical vegetation quickly covers every inch of land as soon as it is exposed. While sitting in a mall in Urdaneta, I ran into a group of folks who were part of the Metropolitan Mountaineering Society out of Manila. They invited me to join them on an ascent of Mount Pulag, the highest mountain on Luzon. I declined as I did not have any of the equipment one needs for this type of ascent (sleeping bag, large pack, etc). I immediately regretted not joining them and really think I could have roughed it and had an enjoyable time. Anyways, I told them that I was looking for a spot to try out some rock climbing. They recommended Montalban, right outside of Manila. This was convenient since Rose has some relatives in this area and we had to make a trip to Manila any way. Montalban was actually pretty decent...especially considering its close proximity to Manila. I still wouldn't call the exposed rock that great.

Montalban was an area where the Japanese military got backed into these caves during WWII and we, with the help of Filipino militia, were able to drive them out of the Philippines.

There were a couple of bolted routes at Montalban, but no climbers that day. So, once again, I lacked a rope and partner.

While walking through the small village of Montalban, I happed across some guys training their fighters. The spurs are wrapped to prevent injury. During an actual fight, the spurs are removed and replaced by a razor-sharp blade.

For me, the highlight of the trip was actually visiting Raymar's pig farm about 10 minutes from Montalban.

Raymar is a cousin to Rose by marriage. He commutes out here from Marikina daily to feed his pigs and then hangs out all day. Its a surprisingly relaxing area. There is a family who lives on his farm who is extremely poor. Every day, Raymar brings enough meat and vegetables to cook a meal for himself and the poor family.

Raymar's farm sits right downhill from a big coconut grove. This guy (the father of the poor family) climbed up and retrieved a buko (young coconut) for me.

Buko juice is a popular drink in the Philippines. All you do is chop the top with your machete and...

...enjoy!

Montalban just reinforced the idea that, in order to rock climb in the Philippines, you need to bring your own equipment and be willing to go search out good climbing spots. It is still such a young sport in the PI and information is difficult to come by. I told Raymar that I would bring my own equipment and teach him to climb next time I come to the PI. He seemed pretty excited about the idea. That's my future plans for now.

Wedding

2008-12-27T01:57:00.000-08:00

Rose's cousing, Lisa, got married while we were in the Philippines. The festivities start at around 4 pm the day before the actual wedding and continue through the afternoon after the actual wedding.

Taking a break from preparation...

Marlon hanging out...

Cooking Filipino style...

The meat...

The women cutting vegetables...

Everyone was having fun except the pigs. The butchering of the pigs was kind of a spectacle attracting the attention of quite a few neighborhood children. A few men just grab the pig, hold it down, and then cut its throat.

Michael saw that the butchers apparently threw out the best part so he snatched up the pig's tail, stuck it on a skewer, and cooked it up. I saw the boys later dipping it in some sort of vinegar sauce and eating it.

The balot guy...

Hauling tables and chairs to the dance location...

The DJ's sweet ride...

Later that night, the dancing started and continued through the next morning when the actual wedding occurred at the church in town.

Sagada, Mountain Province, Philippines

2008-12-20T14:52:00.000-08:00

Well, we made it to the Philippines alright. Shortly after getting there, I took off for Sagada with Dad, my brothers-in-law, Paul and Alpie and Dad's step-son, Lucky. It was about a 5-hour bus ride through the mountains north of Baguio which was pretty nice. Upon arriving there, I found a room with 5 beds at the Sagada Guest House ($25) and we went and got something to eat.
After eating, we went to the tourist center to sign up for a cave tour. While most folks opt for the Sumaging Cave tour which is more of a short scenic tour, we opted for the more adventurous "Cave Connection" tour where you enter through the Lumiang Cave and exit through the Sumaging Cave.

Entrance of Lumiang Cave.

What makes the "Cave Connection" tour different than the other tours is the technical difficulty. There were several 10-15 foot drops we had to maneuver...an easy enough feat above ground, but much more difficult on wet, glassy limestone.

Due to the very poor light conditions, I was not able to take alot of good pictures. The highlights of the trip were the more technical sections and seeing thousands of bats near the end. The bats were a mixed blessing though as I often found myself on all fours crawling through bat droppings;) While I did enjoy the one-time experience, I don't foresee myself investing in any spelunking gear.

The next day, we decided to take a hike to the big waterfall, Bomod-Ok. Along the way, we saw an old Ifugao lady walking down the road wearing the traditional weaved skirt and carrying some sort of farming tool on her head. The Ifugao people are an indigenous Filipino tribe who managed to survive the Spanish and U.S. occupations with most of their indigenous culture largely intact....a real raritiy.

Along the hike, there were some nice vistas with the steap valleys covered in the Ifugao rice terraces. In the mountains of the Northern Philippines, there are thousands of these terraces which were built by hand thousands of years ago to support the agriculture.

Now for the disappointing part of the trip. The hike to the waterfall takes about 2.5 hours and we made it all the way to within about 10 minutes of the waterfall when we came to a "tourist registration center". A lady asked us where our guide was. We stated that we were making our way just fine and did not need or want a guide. She said that we weren't allowed to proceed without a guide. I refused to pay even a dime for a guide to show me the way to a place I already know how to get to so we turned around and made the 2 hour walk home. The one thing that kind of bugs me in the Philippines is that you're ALWAYS treated like a tourist, even when you've been there a dozen times and can comfortably get around on your own. In a sense, I think they're usually just trying to be helpful, but it can become suffocating after awhile. My intent was to go and kick back by a waterfall. I had no interest in hearing a stranger yak on and on about it or wait around on me.

Upon arriving back at Sagada, we grabbed our bags and headed back for Rose's home, Pangaoan, Rosales.

Hakkoda Winter Summit

2008-11-29T02:57:00.000-08:00

It can be tough to find new friends who take being outside as seriously as I do. But, I was lucky enough to find another climbing enthusiast who let me tag along on a winter summit of Mount Odake. Some will recall that I was up here last summer with Angelica. Of course, its a different beast in the wintertime.
Our target...the summit of Mount Odake.

The day was great right from the start. Northern Japan is not known for clear views and bright, sunny weather. As luck would have it, we were blessed with both throughout the day. I had never seen Mount Iwake before, but today I was allowed a distant glimpse of the beautiful volcano. Mount Iwake is famous for having an appearance similar to Mount Fuji, although Mount Iwake is much, much smaller than Mount Fuji.

Making progress up the mountain.

Gorgeous view of the river valley.

Group photo in the saddle before the final summit push....me, Sean, Justin, and Kap.

And now the hard part. With the trail being buried in snow, the only way we knew up to the summit was straight up the side of the cone. This would be quite a task in the summertime, let alone with a thick coat of snow covering the mountain.

Pushing up the cone to the summit...steep, slow, and grueling.

Still pushing...but with a brilliant view of Kodake Mountain in the background.

And the guys finally reached the crater ridge meaning an easy stroll to the summit.

Iwate-san

2008-10-25T22:48:00.000-07:00

Darren and I made an overnight trip to Mount Iwate, or Iwate-san. At 2038 meters, Iwate-san is the highest mountain in the Tohoku region of Japan.
The geology and vegetation on Mount Iwate is quite different than the other mountains I've visited in Northern Japan. Although a volcano like the rest of them, it was more rugged and had less low-level vegetation than the Hakkoda mountains. The "alpine" feel was very refreshing when compared to the "bush-whacking" necessary to navigate the Hakkoda mountains. On the other hand, like the typical Japanese volcano, the elevation climb was almost constant and the Japanese only know how to build trails one way...straight to the top.

The Japanese weather doesn't often permit good views from high altitudes. But, during a brief moment, the clouds cleared allowing a breath-taking view from near the summit. The pic just doesn't do it justice. That little lake sits at about 5000 feet and I'm hoping to spend some more time there next summer. I'm hoping its a good summer swimming hole.

Me and Darren made the summit and, as usual for Japan, the summit was in the clouds.

While looking for a place to camp, we happed upon a cabin abnormally large for a Japanese mountain emergency cabin. There were plenty of people hustling around, so we asked if this was the type of cabin where one may buy a beer. They said that we could not buy a beer. They went on to explain that they were the Iwate Prefecture Hiking Club and that they were celebrating the last hike of the season. They insisted that we stay and celebrate with them.

The food was delicious. We ate a vegetable and pork soup along with kimchi, sashimi, bbq chicken chunks, and, of course, plenty of Asahi, Sake, and Soju....

Kampai!

Angelica Rock Climbing

2008-10-18T23:13:00.001-07:00

Well, my extra helmet and kid's harness finally came in so I promised Angelica I would take her climbing. The hardest thing to teach her was to trust the belay set-up to catch her if she fell and to let go of the rocks so I could ease her down. After the first go, she took to it like a rock star! She got comfortable with going up about 30 feet...better than me the first time!

I never get tired of this spot. We tried for a shot further back, but the waves started crashing in and got a bit scary.

Rose's mom loves hiking and being outdoors. I guessed it skipped the next generation?

While Japan has some beautiful country, we don't see alot of wildlife. You know its out there as there are tons of predatory birds flying above, but you never see any rodents. Along the hiking trails, you'll see various scat, but almost never any animals. Last week, Mike and I saw a serow scurry up a rock across the ravine we were standing on. A serow is an animal kind of in between an antelope and a mountain goat. Today, we were lucky enough to see three of them running around together. I was quite surprised how close they let us get.

Rock Climbing (cont)

2008-09-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

One of the most frustrating things about Northern Japan is that it can be extremely hard finding things such as the rock climbing spot I've begun frequenting. On our last trip, a Japanese couple showed up with a rock climbing guide highlighting our spot complete with pics, driving directions, and route drawings. Unfortunately, the book is written in Kanji. This is nearly always the case when trying to plan an outdoor adventure in Northern Japan. There are plenty of books, topographic maps, etc, but its all written in Kanji! Some may think this is not the end of the world since a topo map is a topo map, Kanji or English. But, try finding the topo map you need in a book store containing thousands of books with Kanji covers and where the employees don't speak English. Most give up pretty quickly. However, thanks to the wonderful web, more and more travelers are posting very helpful information on subjects such as this. In fact, if it weren't for folks blogging about their travels in Northern Japan, I would have rarely left the house thus far. Anyway, in an effort to give back to those who have helped me, I will try to post more indepth information about the spots I come across.
Most folks who go rock climbing around Misawa talk about climbing near Kuji. Darren, who showed me this spot, said that he thinks they refer to another spot. But, this spot matches the descriptions I've read and is just north of Kuji. Above is a map showing where to park. You just take 45 south of Hachinohe and take a left onto 279. The second left on this map actually takes you all the way down to the coast. Just park on the side of the road at the above coordinates. Take the trail south of the road to a lookout platform. The climbing spot is directly below the platform.

Its hard to get a really good shot showing the entire rock face...

The real prize is the scene looking out. Days like this don't come often in Northern Japan. I'm glad we got to enjoy it.

Angelica's Running

2008-09-25T02:29:00.000-07:00

Angelica joined a jogging club at her school. I didn't get to see her first day, but both her and Rose were pretty excited afterwards. Angelica tied for the longest run at 2.5 miles. The other boy, who is a year older, won the speed contest.

I hope she'll keep it up. I'll start taking her to the track accross the street. I've started a runnersworld.com account for her and started feeding her stats to the right column.

Rock Climbing

2008-09-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

I finally had the opportunity to get onto a real rock face. I don't know why rock climbing fascinates me so much. Being tall, clumsy, and not too fond of heights, the last place I feel natural is rock climbing. But, there is a certain rush that comes from facing your fears head-on. On top of that, what other sport has you hanging on for your life by your fingertips and depending on somebody else to catch you if you fall? Plus, isn't it just natural to want to reach the tops of things? Rock climbing is a rush on so many levels.
Darren, the experienced one of the bunch, showing us the ropes.

Mike was VERY hesitant at first, but seemed like a natural once on the wall. Much quicker starting out than me and much more confident in his lunges upward.

Its not as fun if you don't spill a little blood along the way. The rock was pretty sharp and my knees, as always, were always getting in the way.

This is as far as I got up...I wore out quick and couldn't stop my legs from shaking:) But, I'll definitely be back to try again soon.

6th Annual Wild Weasel Triathlon

2008-08-22T23:25:00.000-07:00

I ran my first triathlon today. I'm no expert on triathlons, but the distances were:
• 400m Swim • 13k Bike • 5k Run
I finished at 1:08. I really enjoyed it and I think this is something I could get into on a more frequent basis. But, I learned some lessons...
400 meters is a lot further than it looks when you're swimming.
You simply can't be competitive on a mountain bike.
I was able to catch alot of folks during the final run, but I'm thinking seriously about investing in a good road bike and some more time at the pool.
Me and the Lt.

We're off!

Running for my bike.

The transition area is another place where you really need to have a gameplan to save time. Off on my mountain bike!

And the finish line! I think my run split was pretty strong @ under 21 minutes.

Stuff White People Like

2008-08-05T04:53:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon a website I wanted to share, http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com. At first, I felt strangely offended and wasn't sure what to think of the site. So, I retreated downstairs, drank a glass of soy milk, and reflected on some of the things the site talked about. Then, I went back and read some more. I now think the website is clever in how it pokes fun at modern middle-class Americans. It feels funny having someone generalize and yet describe you so well without knowing you. I wear nothing but New Balance running shoes and have long avoided Nikes like the plague. I start each morning with a cup of Chai tea and never finish a day without my starbucks Cafe Mocha. I only recently bought my VW Jetta and my 4-wheel drive Suburu, but wish I would have went with a Prius. I have a closet full of North Face and Patagonia clothing, I'll be running my first marathon at Tokyo in March, and I do like those old movies which take me "back to a time when there was zero hip hop influence in white high schools." They have a list of "whitey" trends of which I'm guilty of about half. Go check it out and see how trendy you really are!

Hiking Hakkodasan

2008-07-28T20:58:00.000-07:00

Angelica and I decided to make an overnight trip into the Hakkoda mountains. When we first arrived, it appeared that the forecast of rain was wrong. But, alas, we learned soon enough what rainy season in the Hakkodas was all about.

The first part of the trip was kind of a suffocating mix of vegetation, humidity, and bugs.

While not technically "above the treeline", the more acidic soil apparently thins the vegetation towards the top.

Some of you may recall my blog about my snowshoeing trip up this same trail. I wrote about the estimated 30-40 feet of snow judging by the tops of the gigantic conifers barely peaking through the tops of the drifts. I was also briefed this in a winter safety brief. Now, seeing these "giant" trees in the summer time, I believe my estimations of winter snow depth to have been off by 20-30 feet:) Still a pretty impressive sight in the wintertime.

A fresh water well near Sennentai Cabin. The water tasted great and I'm sure we would have enjoyed it much more had the weather not been chilly and wet.

The Japanese apparently have an insatiable appetite for trivial facts. Would you believe that this pond is the most elevated location in Aomori Prefecture where amphibious creatures spawn? Fascinating.

A Shinto shrine near the Ohdake summit.

Apparently, the Shinto gods accept cash or sake.

Our main goal...Ohdake Summit, the highest in the range at 1584.6 meters (5199 feet). From the map, it appears that this summit is actually the edge of a large volcano crater. I'm sure it would have been quite a sight, had the clouds allowed it. But, as you can see, we were still quite excited about the feat. The high winds and low visibility made it feel all the more exciting (especially for an 8-year old).

Our home for the night...Ohdake Cabin. The dense cloud cover and constant rain kept us from exploring too much. Before hitting the sack, we took the opportunity to summit Iodake. This is the crest near the summit. While the cloud cover and heavy winds added to the sense of adventure, I really wish I could have seen down the sides.
MMMM....freeze dried eggs. Most of the second day was spent crossing these marshes. Actually quite beautiful despite being soaked and wet the entire day.

Tanabata Festival

2008-07-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday, we went to the Misawa Tanabata Festival. This was pretty much the view for me...following the women up and down the street.

As far as I could tell, the festival was pretty much a bunch of vendors and these paper decorations hanging from the street.

The highlight of the evening was the hip-hop show. For those of you who follow the Misawa Hip Hop scene, the Misawa Hood Boyz were headlining.

One of the more bizaare booths was selling these giant beetles for rather high prices.

Camping at Tanesashi Coastline

2008-07-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

We went camping again this weekend, only this time to Tanesashi Coastline. We paid $8 for parking and the camping was free. Overall, a pleasant stay.

Angelica & Helen feeding Pringles to the seagulls.

There was a crazy old guy on the beach who was doing some odd ritual...think Mr. Miyagi doing the crane thing on Karate Kid, only in a green Speedo. I couldn't figure if he was doing some interpretive dance or worshipping the seagull gods. I wanted some better pics, but felt it safest to keep my distance.

Camping at Towada

2008-07-21T03:26:00.000-07:00

We went on our first car-camping trip last weekend with our next door neighbors, the Herrons. We chose a spot up on Lake Towada which just happened to have a fireworks show scheduled for the night. The firworks were quite nice over the lake and lasted for about 45 minutes.

One thing I couldn't figure out was that the maps all had "no swimming" posted at all the waterfronts. I asked a man at the information center where we could swim and he said that there was no safe place to swim on Lake Towada. In limited English, he explained to me that the water was cold, deep, and the cause of many, many deaths. I thought about his warning....and swam anyway. The water temperature was perfect, although it got deep quicker than any waterbody I've ever swam in. Throughout the 2 days, I noticed that myself and a small handful of other young american men were the only ones getting in the water. I'm still trying to figure out if the lake is really dangerous, or if there's a peculiar difference between the Japanese culture and ours. Since I've been here, I've yet to see a Japanese person bathing in a natural water body. They also seem to dress warmer than us for the climate...i.e. wearing sweaters on the beach in the summertime (and of course, not swimming).

There were hundreds of these paddleboats on the lake. I'm not sure what the Japanese's fascination with swans is, but their likeness is used everywhere.

This "lesbian" statue, as called by all of the Americans around here, is the trademark landmark of Lake Towada. After seeing it in person, next to the gorgeous lake and the many shrines, I fail to see the significance.

A beautiful rock with some sort of shrines built atop.

One of the many Shinto shrines of Japan.

Shimokita Peninsula

2008-07-05T06:21:00.000-07:00

Today, we took a road trip around Shimokita Peninsula. It is a bit of land that shoots out between the Pacific Ocean and Mutsu Bay. Beautiful and sparsely populated, its definitely a place I'll visit again.

Aomori prefecture is known for the high quality horses they bred during the Samurai days. Our first stop was Cape Shiriya where you can still spot the "wild" horses of Japan.

This little fella walked right over to us and clearly made Helen's day.

Another new and interesting treat...apple ice cream! I love Japanese apples, and this frozen treat wasn't too bad either.

One of the many sights on Shimokita is Hotokegaura. This is a coastal area with lots of tall rock formations.

"Hotoke" apparently means Buddha and the Japanese apparently think these rock formations remind them of praying Buddhas.

Can you see the Buddha resemblance?

An interesting thing about the sight, along with several buddhist alters, were these man-made mounds scattered around the beach. I'm not sure about the meaning behind them, but I couldn't help to remember finding these same phenomenons in my back yard in Italy. Of course, this was usually after a night of drinking and impressing my friends by showing them how my obese Labrador would actually eat rocks. Come to think of it, Lily kind of looked like a big Buddha...hmmm

One of the really nice things about Japan is that, despite thousands of years of humans living here, they have managed do a pretty good job of preserving the environment to include both grizzly bears and the black spectacled bear (not too shabby when you consider we almost killed off every one of our black bears in a couple of hundred years). While most tourists try to steer clear of the bears, many of them do take a trip up to Shimokita to see the snow monkeys. This is supposed to be the northern-most spot to see them. But, they often prove to be pretty elusive, so many tourists settle for a glimpse at some roadside monkey zoos. We had about given up on finding wild monkeys and I was having a hard time finding the roadside zoo when...

we happed upon this fella. He didn't run off and allowed us to take several pics. But, he refused to eat any of the bananas Rose threw at him. I still can't believe a monkey would refuse a banana, but it was still a neat experience. I've seen many animals in the wild during my lifetime, but wild monkeys are just so much more exotic.

About 5 minutes down the road, we saw about 15 of them to include some mothers carrying their babies hanging from their midsections. I wasn't quick enough on the camera to catch them all, but I did get to capture a shot of this little fella...

Tanesashi Coast

2008-06-07T20:39:00.000-07:00

We recently found a nice coastal area close to base. The Tanesashi Coast is a beautiful mix of rocks, grass, and sand. I think we'll be spending alot of time there.

One of Tanesashi's highlights is Shiroiwo or "White Rock".

Further research revealed that this wonder of nature is actually just a rock covered with bird poop.

I did a bit of scrambling over the coastal rocks with an old friend from Italy. While this pic makes it look a bit more treacherous than it really was, the rock was very sharp and a slip would have definitely resulted in injury.

Backpacking w/ Angelica and Lola Virgie

2008-05-11T18:59:00.000-07:00

After several weekends of backpacking partners backing out on me, I decided to take Angelica and my mother-in-law (Virgie) backpacking off the Oirase Gorge trail overnight. Virgie was actually very excited about going and did better than Angelica on the hike. We expected to see some waterfalls and hopefully some wildlife....but alas...we saw none. The trail was badly overgrown and much of the ground was soggy. I was lucky enough to see a fox on a trail run I took in the evening. But, overall, it was a fun chance to get outdoors...finally!

I tested out my minimalist setup and it worked out pretty well. The great thing about this setup is not the actual campsite comfort, but the comfort on your back on the way up. There are some condensation issues I need to work out with the Bivy, but I slept well and didn't wake to a bear licking my face (my worst fear)...so I'm generally happy with it. The interesting thing is that I carried all of this stuff AND the 2-man tent for Angelica and Virgie and it was the most comfortable backpacking load I've ever endured. It really is worth it to get lighweight, quality gear.

A Good Weekend

2008-03-06T13:55:00.001-08:00

On Saturday morning, Angelica and I left the house early to try snowboarding for the first time. It was a blast! I can't believe I never tried this before. I wish I would have gotten some pics of myself snowboarding, but frankly, I was too fast for the camera.

You know you're getting old when you try to take pics of yourself having a good time and you look like this.

Saturday afternoon, I finally took a shot at the rockclimbing wall on base. I made it up the easy pitch twice before my hands and forearms started burning so bad I couln't make it again.

On Sunday, we took another trip up to Lake Towada. You really have to check this place out during each different season to appreciate all the scenery. This is Helen standing with her class's stuffed animal, Greta. Each weekend, a different kid takes it home and writes in a journal about where they took Greta.

When will backpacking season ever get here?

2008-02-23T01:13:00.001-08:00

Sitting around waiting for spring so I can hit the trail and sleep under the stars, I decided to see if I've accomplished my winter task of building a lightweight backpacking list.

I made a spreadsheet using advertised weights of all my gear and made my goal to have a pack weighing under 13 pounds before adding food, water, and fuel. Here's my list...

Gear
Clothes
Extra Socks (3.77 oz)
Thermal Top (4.83 oz)
Thermal Bottom (5.11 oz)
R1 Bottoms (8 oz)
Gloves (2 oz)
Cap (3 oz)
Patagonia R2 (14.8 oz)
Poncho/Tarp (10 oz)
Subtotal for Clothes (51.51 oz)

Sleeping
Stakes (10 oz)
Guylines (2 oz)
REI Bivy (17.6 oz)
Sleeping Bag 32deg (34 oz)
Sleeping Pad (7 oz)
Subtotal for Sleeping (10.6 oz)

Packing
Backpack (32 oz)
Stuff Sacks (4 oz)
Subtotal for Packing (36 oz)

Cooking & Water
PocketRocket Stove + 1 can fuel (3.2 oz)
Coffee Cup (2 oz)
1-liter Platypus Bottle x 2 (2 oz)
Pan (4 oz)
Water Filter (11 oz)
Subtotal for Cooking/Water (22.2 oz)

Other essentials
First Aid Kit, etc (6 oz)
Headlamp, compass, etc (10 oz)
MaxiDeet (2.4 oz)

Total -- 12.27 lbs

All my gear (except food, water, and my sleeping pad).
This is my food preparation gear. A titanium pot, a titanium mug, a water filter, an MSR Pocket Rocket stove, and a can of fuel. I've read tons of arguments on the best lightweight silverware whether it be titanium or lexar. I think they're all wrong and the the asians got it right...chopsticks!

This is my sleeping set up minus my sleeping pad. Basically, a 32-degree bag, a GoLite Tarp/Poncho, an REI Minimalist Bivy, some rope, and some stakes.

This is the REI Minimalist Bivy. Basically, its a waterproof bag that wraps around your sleeping bag.

This is what the GoLite Poncho/Tarp is supposed to look like set up. I'm waiting for the snow to melt so I can practice setting it up.

I packed it all in and put it on the scale at work.

And, voila! Under 13 pounds before food and water!

Tokyo

2008-02-10T00:53:00.000-08:00

I made my first trip to Tokyo over the weekend to pick up Rose's mom. I rode the bullet train which was fairly exciting. While it didn't feel very fast from the inside, we went about 450 miles in 3 hours. Once exiting the train at the Tokyo station, you enter what feels like a small underground city full of restaraurants and shops. It took me 30 minutes to find an exit to the ground level.

Once on ground level, I was reminded that I really don't like big cities. Its kind of claustrophobic. I didn't dress warm as well, so I was kind of miserable walking around.

A short walk from the train station is the Imperial Palace. Its a huge complex surrounded by moats.

A house located inside the Imperial Palace garden.

The city is apparently "smork" free as there were signs like this everywhere to include carved into the sidewalks.

Japan is well known for the many electrical gadgets and fine automobiles it exports, but it is often overlooked on its advances in the field of high-tech toilets. The highlight of my trip was being able to take this little beauty for a test drive. The first feature I noticed was a perfectly heated seat...definitely a "warm" welcome in from the cold.

The control panel was conveniently located on the right side as I am right-handed, but I wondered if a left-handed user may have some trouble. Perhaps a swiveling control panel could be designed to accomodate other users. I particularly liked the adjustable water pressure. I toyed around with it for awhile and it was functional at all pressure levels, but I found that I fancied medium the best. Another thing I would change is perhaps an adjustable deodorizer. With this particular seat, you only had the choice of "Powerful Deoderizer On" or "Powerful Deoderizer Off". Some days require more deoderizer than others. Lastly, it had the energy saver function. What else would you expect from the country who brought you the Kyoto Protocol?

The Beach in January

2008-01-12T17:40:00.001-08:00

Well, it had been a couple of weeks since we posted anything on the blog, so Angelica and I decided to go out and take some pics. We both decided it would be pretty cool to see snow on the beach.

So, we hopped in the trusty Suburu and headed out. I don't think I've posted anything on my car, but I love that thing...all-wheel-drive and good gas mileage. I know Buz loved his little Impreza and now I know why. When I'm driving it, I feel like it can take me anywhere. As an additional bonus, it will fit in most parking spaces. Whenever we get back to the states, I think I'll buy another one.

Near the beach, there was a nice little wooded area which looked worthy of a pic.

And...the beach! I've seen the beach and I've seen snow...now, I've seen them both together! OK, it wasn't quite as cool as we anticipated, but it made for a nice morning. Angelica got to try out her new snow shoes too (not that she really needed them there).

Hakkoda-San Snowshoeing

2007-12-30T21:45:00.000-08:00

Me and Dan went snowshoeing up in the Hakkoda Mountains over the weekend. It seemed easy enough...a 2.5 mile hike up to Sennentai Cabin for the night.

The first part of the hike was through a heavily wooded area. We just followed some cross-country skiers' tracks.

We left the wooded area and found ourselves in a big frozen river bed. It was beautiful at first, but then the wind picked up and the visibility quickly dropped to less than a hundred feet.

At the top of the river bed, there was what looked like a vast frozen wasteland. On a sunny day, I'm sure its quite a sight, but on my first trip in an unfamiliar place, the wicked wind chill and the low visibility made it a rather daunting place. I don't know how tall these pine trees were, but judging from the height of other trees further down the mountain, we guess the snow to be near 30 feet deep. It would be an easy place to get into some trouble.

At last, we found a row of long bamboo poles stuck in the snow which led us to refuge.

The cabin was already being warmed up by some Japanese cross-country skiers. We warmed up and ate some chow...then went outside to "look around" a bit.

Warmed up with a full stomach and knowing where the cabin lies gave us some comfort of mind to go explore a little bit. Unfortunately, the visibility was still too low for us to wander off too far.

The cabin we stayed at was called Sennentai Cabin. It was built in the 1980's by local enthusiasts. Anyone is welcome to stay as long as they share the space with anyone else who may be staying there. The cabin is basically an open room with three levels of bunks. I guess that it would sleep 15-20 fairly comfortably. It has two large kerosene stoves for public use. When Dan and I arrived, there were 6 or 7 old Japanese men already staying there. Although they spoke pretty much no english, they were friendly and hospitable. Judging from their knowledge of the facility, I think they may be part of the group that built the cabin. Throughout the day, they were busy installing new bamboo trail markers and replenishing supplies in a room located below the main cabin.

Me with Shojiabo on the right and Jimol Hanga on the left. Shojiabo was being very generous with his Sake and Jimol Hanga was doing his best at communicating with us as he knew the most English out of the bunch. All of the Japanese men were incredibly friendly and helped us out with the basic tasks of staying in the cabin (i.e. melting snow for drinking water!). I hope I run into them on future trips.

There was a sulfur field at the bottom near the end of the hike with steam coming out of it (the Hakkoda mountains were formed by volcanoes).

Overall, it was an exciting trip. Being my first winter hiking trip, I did come up with some "Lessons Learned."

Lessons Learned:

1. Don't use Camelbak bladders...the tubes freeze and you're left without water until you find a place to thaw out.

2. When using a new camping stove, make sure you test it fully prior to the hike. I have a new Coleman Fyrestorm Ti stove which I decided to use for the first time. It uses an inverted butane canister. I couldn't find the recommended Coleman butane, so I used another brand. It worked fine for a few seconds, but then the butane valve suddenly froze over and started leaking butane. The ensuing fireball scared the crap out of everyone and nearly lit one of our Japanese hosts' ass on fire.

3. Gear that works fine for years will not necessarily work as well in the snow. My trusty Magellan GPS's clip holder got ice jammed in it and broke when I tried to stow my GPS. My trusty Mountainsmith walking sticks were a total failure. The snow disk fell off of one rendering it useless...it is now simply a long stick which completely sinks in the snow. My other stick got ice jammed in the locking mechanism and kept collapsing on me.

4. You need tinted goggles...but not those ones you got free from military issue for Middle East sand storms. Goggles keep your eyes from freezing and prevent snow-blindness. Good ones won't fog over.

5. Bring more bourbon!

Sledding!

2007-12-15T20:58:00.000-08:00

I took the kids sledding today. We had enough snow to cover the slope beneath our base "ski lodge" overlooking Lake Ogawara.

Schichinohe Orphanage

2007-12-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

Me and the kids spent last Saturday on a unit visit to a local orphanage. It was quite an emotional experience for many of the Americans who had never been on an orphanage.

Most of the children were disabled. Here, they are performing a song for us in sign language.

We cooked some dogs for them.

Chowin' down.

Santa wasn't able to get down here for the visit, but luckily, his second cousin, Tyrone, was able to fly in from Atlanta.

Each child was sponsored by a member of my unit so they all received a gift.

Family Pics

2007-12-04T01:27:00.000-08:00

Well, it took 8 years, but we finally went and had our pictures taken...

Towada Hike

2007-12-02T01:10:00.000-08:00

Well, we decided to take the trip up Oirase Gorge to Lake Towada again...this time on foot. The view was different as winter has hit and all of the trees were bare. We were hoping for snow, but it was all melted. Maybe we'll try again in a month.

My friend Dan crawled out on a rock for a pic...pretty gutsy for a Navy guy who can't swim:)

Here I am all dressed up at Towada. The wind was freezing coming off the Lake.We had planned on eating up at Towada and found only one restaurant open. The waitress spoke no English and the menu was in Kanji. Dan simply pointed at the menu and...this is what we got! It was delicious as always and also pleasant to the eyes. Remember how I said Japanese food is always supposed to look as good as it tastes?

I knew Origami came from Japan, but I had no idea what they were capable of. Yes, these displays are nothing more than folded paper.

One thing I really miss about Italy is the availability of great Cappucinos. Japan has the next best thing...Cafe Latte served hot in an aluminum can! Well, its actually the worst coffee I've ever drank, but its drinkable...in an MRE kind of way. Anyway, its also hot, fast, and served at your nearest soda machine.

Snow!!!

2007-11-20T01:48:00.000-08:00

We had our first snow here. No wind and relatively warm temperatures, so it was actually very enjoyable.

Rob Rogers

2007-11-10T15:34:00.000-08:00

We received news of a recent tragedy in Italy (http://www.aviano.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123075514). Three guys I knew well, Kenny Hauprich, Mark Spence, and Rob Rogers, died in a helicopter crash. Kenny was full of youthful energy and always smiling. When he wasn't annoying everyone with his awful harmonica playing, he would always be trying to cheer people up when they were down. Mark was a comical cynic. He would spend an hour lecturing you on why there was no value to reading books or why you simply can't trust a man without sideburns. He was kind of like a walking Seinfeld episode. Rob was always laughing. Always prone to the worst of luck, he simply laughed most things off. Rob was one of the best friends I ever had and we did everything together in Italy. I couldn't find any pictures of Mark or Kenny, but I've posted several of Rob.

Viking Restaurant

2007-11-05T15:59:00.000-08:00

You may see by our posts that we really enjoy eating in Japan. We recently went to a different restaurant called The Viking. At the Viking, you basically...
load up on uncooked meats and vegetables...

cook them on a little grill in the middle of your table...

and eat! It was really delicious.

Halloween

2007-11-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Halloween here at Misawa. Helen had a nice party at school where she dressed up as a princess. We then had trick-or-treating on base. I dressed up a little myself and handed out candy. It was pretty funny because about 500 Japanese children typically come on base for Halloween. They would approach the porch thinking I was a manniquin. Then I would move the candy bowl and they would freak out a little bit. The Japanese Halloween tradition here at Misawa does help highlight how accepting the Japanese are of us and our cultures. Prior to Halloween, the local Japanese communities also put on various activities such as a small children's parade and costume competitions.

Rokkasho Salmon Festival

2007-10-27T18:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we went to the Rokkasho Salmon Festival. Rokkasho, Aomori is known for two things...a national nuclear reprocessing center and their annual festival of salmon. What better place to pick up a bargain on salmon than right next to a nuclear plant? Anyways, the festival was quite fun.

I really love the way Japanese eat. They had a big building full of small bbq grills where you brought in your own fresh vegetables and meat and cooked it right there. Its like a big Mongolian BBQ for everyone.

The highlight of the festival is the actual salmon catch. Everyone buys a salmon ticket for $9-$14 (depending on how early you bought it). They then make a circle around a little knee-deep pool full of salmon. Keep in mind that the temperature is about 50 degrees F and there's a wicked wind coming off the ocean. Notice most of the Japanese all bundled up while most Americans are barefoot in shorts.

And they're off! They're all given a signal and they all jump in at once. The salmon are instantly whipped into a frenzy and everything goes crazy.

While many of the older Japanese men easily pluck their salmon out by the tail, this guy shows that it is definitely harder than it looks.

Overall, it was an interesting experience. There is another salmon festival in a couple of weeks at another village. I plan on trying for a salmon at that one.

Hachinoe Fish Market

2007-10-26T23:33:00.000-07:00

We can't get enough of the fish market. You could eat there every day for a month and never eat the same thing twice.

Mmmm...shark fin and jellyfish salad.

Hachinoe Tour

2007-10-19T18:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Rose and I went on a tour of Hachinoe City. We started out at a fish market and then went onto a Shinto shrine and then a mall.
This is Rose and our tour guide, Kuniko. Kuniko was wonderful and did a good job of helping us sample many different kinds of Japanese cuisine. We tried dried herring, herring eggs, squid ink pastries, rice (as opposed to potato) chips, and apple vinegar juice just to name a few. Our favorite, by far, was a mixture of shredded shark fin and jellyfish marinated in sesame oil. It was absolutely delicious.

The Japanese take the look of their food quite seriously. While I didn’t take nearly enough pictures of the food, it was quickly apparent that creating a pleasant looking dish is a painstaking process for the Japanese cook. This is a picture of Japanese pancakes. They fry the flapjacks in special molds that look like a fish. They were quite delicious and had a type of pudding inside the pancakes.

This is a wooden carving of the particular Shinto god worshipped at the Hachinoe Shinto shrine. This god, Hachimon, is the Shinto god of war. The tour guide was quick to point out that the many bottles of Sake at the base of the statue does not mean that Hachimon was an “Alcohoric”. These bottles of Sake were left as gifts by those seeking Hachimon’s grace.

At Shinto shrines, you can buy small pieces of paper with your fortune on them, much like a fortune cookie. If your slip of paper forecasts good luck, you take the slip of paper home and share the good fortune with your friends. If your slip of paper forecasts bad luck, you tie it to this fixture so that the gods may examine your future and perhaps mitigate your future bad fortune.

The Japanese are quite fond of trees. The boast some of the nicest plots of old-growth forests in the world…not a bad thing for such a developed society. This particular Cedar tree (in the middle) is over 400 years old. While I couldn’t make out everything the tour guide said, he said something about using parts of this tree to make a very special kind of Sake.

Oirase Gorge & Towada Lake

2007-10-08T01:00:00.000-07:00

We spent the afternoon driving through Oirase Gorge up to Tawada Lake. The drive was gorgeous...I can't remember seeing such a scenic drive. It had rained right before we drove up there, so the Oirase river was raging as well as the dozen or so waterfalls which feed into it. It was a really nice time. Lake Towada is inside a volcano crater. Its supposed to be one of the deepest lakes in Japan. As you can see, it was quite the sight as well. I will definitely spend more time up there. I plan on taking a dip in one of the many hot springs up there after the snow starts falling...that oughtta be interesting.

Here we are Japan!

2007-10-08T00:55:00.000-07:00

Well, we're here now. It looks like we're really going to enjoy it. Rose is already pretty excited about all the Asian food. The area is kind of rural, yet feels almost crowded at spots...a feeling I always get in Asia. The locals are really friendly, much more so than the locals

at Aviano.

First Sergeants Academy Graduation

2007-09-29T08:48:00.001-07:00

Well, its official!

Visiting Kansas

2007-09-06T13:37:00.001-07:00

Here's some more pics from my recent trip to Kansas.

Kansas flat as a pancake?

2007-09-06T13:33:00.001-07:00

Many of you have probably heard that Kansas is as flat as a pancake. Well, during my recent travels through Kansas, I've been busy collecting empirical evidence that Kansas is actually FLATTER than a pancake. Please see evidence above.

Last Day @ Aviano

2007-09-02T07:24:00.001-07:00

Well, my last day at Aviano was one of the best. Marco, Rob, and I went kayaking up at Lago di Barcis. Rob tipped his kayak like 3 times in the first 5 minutes. Its funny because he's the one who was all ready to start at some rapids up near Claut. After kayaking down to the lake, we found a sweet underground river where we messed around for awhile.

My blog

2007-09-02T07:17:00.000-07:00

Well since everyone who's cool seems to have a blog now (except maybe for Buz), so I thought I'd start one. Rose, I, and the kids just left Aviano and we're enroute to Misawa so we're pretty excited.