Mito 1-12-10 tuesday

My first day of exploring on my own. Steve went to work. Our hotel is right at the train station, which is gargantuan. As I left it after breakfast, I saw this river, so took the stairs down and followed the trail. Running trails near the river in red and asphalt biking trail above by the trees.

I came to Senba Lake, with swans of the organic and non-organic-foot pedal-rental kinds.

The trail around is made of rubber, I think, it was kind of soft. It was a beautiful morning and there were lots of runners and bikers out. It's a 10k loop, clearly marked on the ground.

There were black swans as well.

With beady red eyes. I heard some chuckling behind me as I was swishing the bird away from me.

Cool statue.

At the furthest end of the lake, I took a steep flight of stairs into the Boys Forest. I was a little frightened by the name, but went anyway. I quickly understood the name when I saw this slide and the surrounding play structures. This part of the park was deserted except for me and an old man with his dog.

I was drawn to the slide. Then I saw its ladder...

Ah, the view from the top!

I was full of excitement. I'd grabbed a piece of cardboard to slide on. It didn't slide. I put my scarf under me. It barely slid. What a disappointment. I scooted down and only slid a little bit at the steepest part. Guess I needed a burlap sack.

More of the play area.

I made my way around the other side of the lake and down a long road and ended up at this Home Center. Sort of like a Hi School Pharmacy. It was fun for quite a bit of wandering. Outside of it was another steep staircase, which I took.

At the top of the stairs, an awesome surprise! The rear entrance to a great treat.

It was a beautiful cemetery and I spent a really long time exploring it.

Of course, it was right in the middle of a residential area, so butted against it were homes. Guess children are the same everywhere, they'll gather rocks wherever there are rocks to be gathered.

There were two areas like this at the very front. A bunch of stacked markers.

A temple at the entrance

Now, here's a funeral home I'd love to work at.

As I left, I turned around for a view to the front entrance.

On the way back to the hotel, I passed this bar. Too bad it was closed, it looks like I could have had lots of fun...

Got back to my room around one pm, and here's my refreshing cold drink of the day. I got some cup noodles (there are so many kinds to choose from) brought them back to the room and propped up my tired feet for some lunch. I opened email, oh Steve's asking for the number to my rental phone so he can call me later. I reach for my purse, look in, no phone. I immediately feel sick. I search coat pockets, under the bed everywhere! No where to be found.

I gathered up my stuff, went to the front desk and explained. They wrote me a note to show to shop keepers where I'd been and then I got to walk my whole morning over, backwards. I found the phone. Back at the slide. It was sitting right there on the flat part. Wet from the rain. I called Steve, I was so excited to find it. When I went to bed last night, my pedometer read 31,823 steps, 15.586 miles, 4 hours forty-five minutes, thirteen seconds of walking time. Much of the second trip was at fast speed with my head down, scanning the ground.

The morning was awesome. The afternoon...not so much...lol.