up
by mikka
Every morning, we drive by a range of mountains (the "Numazu Alps," apparently) which run alongside the river that runs through town and half the way to our first job of the day; today we hopped on our bikes and rode about 15 minutes to the base of the nearest one, which looks like this:
(er, which looked like this, two weeks ago, when the sakura were in bloom).
At the top, we found a completely empty meadow of trees with a few remaining cherry blossom trees and panoramic views of Numazu.
Also on top, we found a (slightly more crowded) observation deck (you can see the spires in the second photo above), which offered unobscured views of Senbon beach.
And also views of Mt. Fuji - or at least, views of the clouds obscuring Mt. Fuji. There's a helpful sculpture that lets you get your bearings, though.
Or, if you're Iain, lets you live out a lifelong Godzilla fantasy.
Speaking of funny pictures, have you ever seen a dog exude so much shame? Seriously, he is mortified.
On the way back down, Iain leapt over the fence and ran out onto one of the stone dams that bracket the river on the way going up. He swore the view was amazing, and so, even though there were massive and terrifying drops on either side (which you cannot really appreciate just by looking at this photo, unfortunately) and heights with guard-railings make me shaky and panicky, I ventured out to see what he was talking about.
It was so worth it!
The hill ties with the beach for places I'm going to try and spend as much time as possible. I know I keep saying this, but I really, honestly cannot believe how lucky we are to live here - the more we find out about it, the luckier I feel.
