And so we played, for tomorrow....it's back to school and work

In the last 2 days, we have done more as a family than we have done since the Christmas/New Year holiday. On Monday, the weather was cold and rainy and down-right dreary, but we packed up some provisions and spent the afternoon at some friends' house....just hanging out....chilling with some good food, great wine and had a lovely time with our hosts. I'm glad we relaxed a bit that day because when we woke up on Tuesday, the rain and drear were gone and it was a great day to be outside.

So....we had an adventure. A 2-hour--493 meter's high (about 1,618 feet worth) climb....hike, if you will or..."climb of death", according to Issei!

But...we did it and we had a pretty good time.

(Oh yes, we did, dammit.)

See....it wasn't so bad. Of course, this was taken about half the way up!

Along the way, there were many little shrines and one temple...at which we stopped and prayed at each and every one.

Many Gods and Goddesses along the path....we kept wondering....how the heck did they get them up there?!?! This would not have been an easy job as the path was barely that in some places and rough steps the rest of the way!

At the top, we were the only ones there. It was a great place to have a picnic and then prepare for the hike back down (which only took about 50 minutes!!).

(Some of us take our hikes verrrrrry serious.)

We had parked our car at a shopping center and when we made our way down, we treated ourselves to some ice cream!

That night, during dinner, it was decided to get our onsen bags out and go to the new hot springs place that opened up here in Nagasaki a few months ago.

The new place is called Fukunoyu (foo-koo-no-you) and it was built on the big mountain that is a major landmark in Nagasaki City (Mt. Inasa for those of you who have been here!). It's a true hot spring and a very lovely place to spend a relaxing couple of hours.

(Please, if you have time, click on the links to see what I'm talking about....you might not understand what is written, but, if you click on the smaller pictures to the left of the big one, you can get an idea!)

The main bathing area and inside baths were very nice. The area is quite spacious and it was easy to forget that I was with about 150 other ladies, girls and small children!!!

The rotenburo (outside bath) was incredible. There were almost as many places to put my naked butt as there were on the inside of the building! And the view from there?!?! Lordy, but it was beautiful!! It is quite amazing how being naked, in hot, herby water, outside under the stars and on a place overlooking the whole city will help you realize that life....yeah, life is pretty good.

I plan on going back to this place....and soon! There was an area that I have been really wanting to try....it is called ganbayoku....and I'm not really sure how to translate that into English...maybe "hot rock bed"? It's tied in with the massage part of the onsen.

Hmmm...Mother's Day is coming up....maybe I leave some hints for a gift certificate!!

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And so today, Wednesday, the adventure continued. We took a drive along the coast....

...and found ourselves at a nice beach so decided to get out and look for shells and beach glass...
...and do some "hunting", or whatever .

Then....we drove to our favorite park where we rented bicycles...

...and rode 5 kms (3.1 miles) around this!!

Another great day for the Kuroiwa Family!!

We came home after getting a quick dinner (no, huh-uh, I was NOT going to cook!) and got ourselves ready to "seize the day" bright and early tomorrow morning!!

We took many pictures today, but this one....is one of my favorites!!!