Trekkin' across Ibaraki

After saying goodbye to the other coworker (who took the bus back to Narita today), I drove back to the apartment to officially move in. We packed up the happy couple's luggage into the car and got in to enjoy a short tour of the highlights of Ibaraki-ken. This, of course, did not take long. Ibaraki-ken is not exactly a tourist mecca. The suspension bridge to nowhere and the waterfall were the highlights. I have pictures, but have been unable to download them yet, so they'll have to wait for a later blog entry. If you're desperate to see the sights, check bazilsmom's blog.

At the end of the day we stopped in Daigo (near the north end of Ibaraki-ken and very close to the waterfall) so that bazilsmom and XDirtPushr could check into a ryokan (japanese-style inn) with an onsen (hot spring). One person on the staff spoke passable English, so between her Engrish and my Japanese, it's possible I'll have some explaining to do to the adventurous couple! I will let her tell the tale (when and if she gets around to it, of course).

To make things easier, I left them the car, walked around "downtown" Daigo for a bit (won't be missing it) and took the train back down to the apartment. This has been fun so far--it's a shame the two of them are leaving for Tokyo tomorrow.