Slow Weekend at Home

This weekend we didn't have any really amazing adventures out in Japan. I have begun to think about the base as being America and once you leave the gates you are in Japan. So adventuring is always done out in Japan. The weather was really beautiful this weekend. I would say around 80 degrees max and the sunshine was a delight since it was the first sun we had seen in a week.

Saturday, we went out to the Art Center to cut some dowels that I need for the show that I'm sending work out for by the end of this week. I needed some hours this weekend to get some more works finished up. We decided to go out on a trip to the bases nature trails. The base has a whole bunch of woods, a beach, a tiny ski hill, and a golf course. The nature trails start near the bunny hill. From there we got a really nice view of the lake and the mountains.

So on the left side of the photo in the distance is Security Hill. It's this beautiful complex of huge white globes and a huge metal cage. Very James Bond. We aren't allowed to post any pictures of it because of terrorism. So all my photos are a little lopsided. All the best views seem to include that little compound. That's Ian on the hill. He's always walking in front of me, by at least 20 feet. I did buy a pair of sandals this week end that would allow me to keep up with him in the future.

The woods are very deep and green. There were lots of different ferns and vines. We also passed by a lot of natural springs that just flowed right out of the rocks. Some times the path was just some boards layed on top of some mud, but more of the time the paths were really nice. There were lots of signs posted near plants to let you know what they were, their English name, their Japanese name, and their scientific name. It was really interesting to see all these plants. Did you know that euonymus grows wild in Japan - isn't that crazy?


The nature trails lead us down to the beach of the lake that the base is build on. It's a pretty lake. You can go swimming or rent a canoe or a kiak. You can also rent cabins and stay down there. There are lots of picnic benches and play grounds for kinds. It's nice to know that there is something like that close by. I took this picture as we were going up towards the golf course for lunch. It was a really steep paved hill. Ian has to run up it for PT some times, he says it really sucks and now I can see why.

We had a really great pizza at the golf course and then walked back to the car. It's just been a really quiet lazy around kind of weekend. The air show is next weekend so there should be something more fun and exciting to report in a bit. I also got directions to the farmers market so I am going to check it out this week. Cheap produce year around! yeah!