03-11-2025 Walk

Travel day. I had some quite vivid, continuing dreams during the night, so sleep wasn't so great. Got ready to check out, finishing packing and cleaning. It was sprinkling when we left, took subway lines to Shinkansen station and got there with enough time to grab a coffee (American-style strong) before boarding the train. This was a 3+ hour ride to Hakone area, where we had hoped to get some good views of Mt Fuji. But it was overcast, so that didn't work out as intended. The train was a long one, stopped for extended times at many of the stations, probably to let other trains go past. We got into Odawara Station after noon and had lunch at a decent Nepalese restaurant near the station. Then we stuffed our bags into a locker at the station and walked over to Odawara Castle nearby. It was a leisurely tour of this minor monument, reconstructed in 1960, then we walked back to the station, retrieved our gear, and took a local train to the neighborhood by our Airbnb. This was in a tiny village called Yumoto, probably the smallest area we've stayed in while in Japan. We walked from the station in misty conditions, had some trouble finding the building but eventually got there. Place was basic, had some crazy low-hanging lights that I kept bumping into. We settled out stuff and walked to a nearby 7-Eleven to get some breakfast food. Then we walked back into town to Gora Brewery for a drink. It was a nice place, not crowded on a rainy Tuesday night. The walk there was a pretty steep uphill climb, Ann was winded when we reached the top. Was steadily raining, so I was glad for my cheap umbrella. On the way back, I accidentally picked up somebody else's umbrella and had to backtrack. Walk back to the Airbnb was easier but still quite wet. I boiled up some of the millet packets that Ann had bought earlier. They weren't what we thought they were, and I really had to cook them down and mix them with some stir fry vegetables to make them palatable. A quiet end to the evening from there.