After Japan.....

Coming home from vacation always has such a dismal feeling. We have been home a week and still I don't feel caught up on everything. The boys are still working on getting their school work made up as well. We had such a great time in Japan, I think it has made it even harder.

.... I left off in Kyoto. Kyoto was our favorite part of Japan. It is the oldest city we stayed in and was spared bombing because of the significance of the buildings. The Golden Palace was beautiful. The Nijo Castle we visited twice because it was so amazing. There is really no describing the environment, you just have to go experience it to understand. Kyoto also made a great base to travel from. The train station was a mini-city in itself. We took the train to Osaka to get Jaron's passport. Osaka was the hottest city while we were there. I don't know if it was just the day we were there, the humidity or what but it was hot. Osaka was also pretty much leveled during World War II so a lot of the buildings are new. Visiting the Consulate was interested. It is a working government agency in another country. You have all the security to go through, then the bureacratic red tape. It was relatively easy to get a new passport though. Jaron was a cute kid. He felt bad about losing his passport but they thought he was so sweet and cute.

Our last visit was to Miyajima Island and Hiroshima. Miyajima Island I could have stayed on for two days straight. It was breathtaking. This island is considered sacred, to the point the babies can't be born on the island. It is a small community, caters to tourists but on the pacific inlet. Needless to say, we couldn't keep Jaron out of the water. Or me for that matter. We played with the crabs, watched the tide go out, and walked along the water. Breathtaking is the only way to describe it. Hiroshima is a solemn place. The memorials and museums for the bombing do a great job of describing both sides of the tragedy. Seeing the shell of the building is like going back in time. You can't help yourself but be silent. All prayers are for peace as you walk through any of Hiroshima.

After hiroshima all that was left was to fly home. The flight home is much shorter than flying out but customs in the US is also harder. All the security measure were a pain. I lost more coming back than going out. By the time we reached Utah I didn't have toothpaste, hairspray, lotion left. But I still had sunscreen. They all seemed to miss that. hee hee hee

The boys and I did love stopping in Utah. It was fun to watch Brooks play football Saturday night. I miss my friends so to visit with Anita, Rick, Sharron and the kids made this the best vacation I have ever had. I would do it again in a heartbeat.