Yesterday, a tiny adventure to find Keenan an anniversary gift with the cotton or china theme led Ninoosh and I to a little shop with handmade pottery. Not exactly "china" but pretty close. The shop is in the home of a very friendly couple that makes everything. The guy makes the pottery and his wife does the designs on them. All of their stuff is so beautiful! So glad I found this place, I'm sure we'll be back again and again. I believe the name translates to something like Hatano, but I'm not sure. I did pick up a sake set for Keenan...
So on to today, the leaves at Lake Towada and the Oirase Gorge are at their peak and I didn't want to miss them! Keenan will be back in a couple of days and I know he won't feel like adventuring right away, making today the perfect day to head out solo. It was a great day! I stopped a few times along the gorge on my way to the lake, took my time in the small village at the lake, Yasumiya, then stopped along the gorge in different locations as I made my way to the Hakkoda Mountains to drive to Jogakura Bridge. The leaves were beautiful everywhere I went, except high in the mountains where they had already completely fallen.
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| Remnants of the rice harvest. |
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| One of my favorite gardens to drive by. |
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| Today's route. 186 km (115 mi) and a little under 5 hours of driving, not including any stops. |
Traffic at the Oirase Gorge was crazy as I expected, but not the worst I've ever encountered. This coming weekend the road will be closed to vehicles so the river and leaves will only be viewable by walking or biking. I believe there are shuttle buses, so walking only one direction is possible. Knowing the road would be closed this weekend was another reason I felt like today was a great day for me to check it out!
As you'll see, it was a popular spot, the artists that were set up were painting some amazing pieces, and as usual, I felt out of place with my middle of the road camera and no tripod, haha.
Once I made it to Lake Towada and the little village, Yasumiya, I wandered through some of the little shops. I've never really had the opportunity to do that before, whether it was due to time constraints or an unwilling travel partner, I don't remember, but today I had all the time I wanted. Didn't buy anything, but did come across a few goodies. Every time we visit this area I always wonder what happened that caused most of the town to close down. There are several hotels along the lake and many shops that look like they are completely abandoned. Seems like it used to be a really hoppin' lake resort town, but now appears just day-trippers come and go. Hmmm...
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| Statue of Otome is a pair of nude women sculpted out of bronze. It was made by a famous poet and artist to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Lake Towada being part of a national park. Otome was created in 1953. |
After I left the village I drove a little farther around the lake in each direction to more of our favorite little spots.
And then it was back to the Oirase Gorge as I passed through again on my way to the Hakkoda Mountains.
Found my favorite spot of the day!
I drove up through the Hakkoda Mountains, the tree branches were already bare and probably had been for a couple weeks now. Eventually I came to the Jogakura Bridge. I'm not 100% sure, but I'm thinking these trees were probably at their peak time for viewing, beautiful today!
And just a couple more photos from the drive home...yes, I took a gazillion pictures today. Yes, I'm obsessed with the leaves.
Up next: 2 Years?? Cotton & China
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