Road trip to Tokyo today - leaving Misawa. I've really enjoyed getting to know Scott's "hometown" area this week - interesting area and a great introduction to Japanese culture.
We were on our way by 6 am, knowing we had an approximately 8 hour road trip ahead of us and needing to be at Camp Zama by 5 pm to drop Marty at the military kennel there. Marty was not the happiest of travelers as he spent the trip in his box. There just was not room for him in the back seat where he is accustomed to be. He of course got out and had a nice walk at each of the rest areas we stopped at.
We took the toll road down to Tokyo. Getting a bit used to everything being on the "wrong" side but it's still a bit strange sometimes. We stopped at three different rest areas along the way. They were nicer than most of our rest areas back home. There were the usual toilet facilities, of course - with those wonderful Japanese toilets - but also there were lots of vending machines, restaurant facilities, and gift shops. Caches at just about every one as well. I was able to find the cache at the first stop we were at, but had to DNF the second, and the third was not along the route that I thought we were taking so if there was a cache there, I didn't know about it. The toll roads in Japan are expensive - it cost the equivalent of $150 to drive all the way down.
Arrived at Camp Zama about 3 pm, Scott checked us into base, and we got Marty squared away at the kennel. He was not a happy camper! While we were on base, we took advantage of cheaper on base gas, and had subway for dinner so Steve could get some American food.
Then to navigate the roads to get into Tokyo and our hotel. They were crazy! I kept my nose in my tablet and read quite a lot of the time so I wouldn't get freaked out. I think Steve described it best, I'll quote from his facebook post:
We made it to Tokyo from Misawa . Trying to get to the hotel with a GPS , 8 hours of concrete jungle , then the road dove under an apartment building and spiralled down underground to a "Y" split , then spiralled down more to a underground expressway and then didn't see the light of day for another 15 minutes , the GPS doesn't work underground and signs are in Japanese , of course. After crossing the same large body of water twice + more concrete jungle , we made it to the hotel which has no parking. My son scoured the local area to park his "large car" ( a '03 Subaru Forester RHD ). Did I mention Tokyo metropolitan area has 38 million people , 16,000 people per square mile density ( I'm used to 2 people per 3 acres of woods ) ; apartment buildings are crammed together for many , many miles . But Scott got us here and is keeping our sightseeing on a even keel with the local trains and all, he understands enough Japanese to get by. Have only seen 1 GoldWing on the expressway on the way down , lots of scooters with people that must have a death wish in this burg. It's NUTS here !
As Steve said, we made it to the hotel eventually, and Scott was able to find parking a few blocks away for the equivalent of $11 per day. Not bad at all for a big city. Scott is on the 4th floor, and we are on the 5th. There is a courtyard in the middle so we can see his room from the elevators. Our room is small by US standards but not bad by Japanese ones. The bed is big enough for both of us, there is a desk, a small couch, and a small bathroom. Wi-fi and air conditioning. It will be fine for three nights.
As we'd had a late lunch and it was dark by the time we were settled in, we went to the Lawson convenience store right across the street from the hotel. Scott and I got onigiri and Steve found a sandwich that he liked. Hung out for a while, planned out what we wanted to do on each day, and then called it a night.
Tomorrow we explore Tokyo!
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