Day 1 post-typhoon. Took Marty for his usual morning walk and surveyed the damage in the neighborhood. Really very little. Scott's antenna is bent over sideways, there's a strange trashcan in his yard, there are lots of leaves, little apples, and a few branches down but overall the area weathered the storm nicely. A big to-do over not so much. Suppose it could have been much worse.
Marty had an 8:30 am appointment at the base vet clinic for a health check that he needed before leaving Japan. He checked out well and we received the paperwork we needed. Back to Scott's to get Steve, and then we all (even Marty) left for Oirase Gorge. This was one of the places I really wanted to visit in the area, and we probably would have all gone together if not for the rainy weather while we were all here. Because of all the rain yesterday with the typhoon, the water was running fast which made for prettier waterfalls!
We started at a rest area where there was parking, then hiked about 4 km down the trail. Beautiful all around - waterfalls, scenic bridges, trees. A bit muddy in spots on the trail, occasionally we took to the nearby road instead. At our agreed upon turn around point, we started back to where we'd parked the car. We decided to continue down the road by car, stopping where we saw waterfalls. The waterfalls farther into the gorge were even more beautiful than the ones we'd hiked past. We ended up at Lake Towada which was big. Went into a store and bought some Towada apple drops. Hard candy, I brought them to work and keep them at my desk and have one or two each day. They are lasting lots longer that way! Also found another manhole cover. The guys are teasing me a bit about them but I think they're cool!
I did have one cache in the GPSr for Lake Towada, which showed up as half a mile away. Of course that was "as the crow flies" and it took longer than that to get close. Unfortunately, the road leading to GZ was closed so we couldn't get to the cache. Another missed opportunity.
Drove back down the same road we had taken through the gorge and headed back to Misawa, about an hour and a half's drive away. Some last minute prep, washing clothes, packing, as we are leaving for Tokyo in the morning. Supper at home and an early night for all.
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