Jeff's trip was only for a week so I knew we had to cram in as much as we could possibly stand. First thing, pick up Jeff at Tokyo Station!! We made a plan on where to meet once he landed in Narita and took the train to Tokyo Station, however, things don't always seem to go as planned. I arrived in Tokyo with plenty of time to wait for his train to arrive so I stayed on the platform until his train pulled up and once the doors opened it was a mad dash to find him. Now I figured it wouldn't be too difficult since he'd be one of the only 6ft. Americans on the train, but with multiple cars and then many exits to the station, it wasn't that easy. I raced up and down the platform and then finally found him on the escalator!! I'm thankful for the Japanese way of standing on the left of the escalator, allowing for walkers to go on the right because I took those steps two at time and found him close to the top!! We were able to grab some food and make it to our Shinkansen (bullet train) back to Misawa.
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| {shinkansen selfie} |
Now onto the main event....ski Japan! As I've said before, the snow is unlike any snow I've ever been in and this week the country did not disappoint! Our first stop...the Hakkoda mountains. We headed up to the mountains early Saturday morning, with our good friends Brent and Allyson.
Just two weeks prior, this mountain was so green that I was worried we wouldn't have fun skiing, but what a difference a few weeks make! We went straight to the lift, bought tickets and off we went! This trip, the boys skied and Ally and I decided to snowshoe. It was my first time and it was awesome!!
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| {up we go!} |
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| {at least 50 people could fit in there} |
At the top, we put on our gear and posed for a couple of pictures. It was SO WINDY!
Then Allyson and I took our snowshoes to the top to check out the snow monsters while the boys went on their ski adventure. :) Overlooking the city was amazing. We really lucked out on how clear it was up there.
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{chizu}  
When we finally got out of the wind, the trail was so much fun!
Down the steep parts we found it best to sit on the back of the snowshoes and just sled down!
  When we made it to the bottom, Allyson and I hung out while Brent, Jeff & Jeff tackled the mountain.  
Our trip to Hakkoda would not be complete without a night at Sukiyu. We've been to this resort before and it has one of the top rated onsens in the country. If you don't know already, an onsen is a traditional bath house. Women and men are usually separate and you must take a shower before entering. Then, you go into the hot spring naked, no bathing suits or anything. Jeff was in for a treat. ;)
The next day, Allyson and I went for a second round of snowshoeing around the hotel while the guys went for another epic day in the snow. We had so much snow our adventure was truly a workout! We stumbled upon a waterfall on the backside of the resort and managed to do some yoga/crossfit moves along the way.
   
One of the best parts of this trip was having okonomiyaki for dinner!!!!!! This is a Japanese pancake. All ingredients that you choose are put together with the batter you then pour over a hot grill at your table. It's delicious!
  
The next couple of days, Jeff and I spent exploring Misawa and Hachinoe, our near by city. We ate sushi, ramen, went grocery shopping and hung out on base. We didn't have much time because we had more skiing to do! Early the next morning we drove about 3 hours to Naqua Shirakami. The snow was just as good and Jeff & Jeff even did some night skiing.
    
It was a long couple of days so Christmas dinner was spent at one of our favorite ramen shops. This is not your typical Cup O' Noodles.
The week went by TOO fast, but we had so much fun!!!!!!
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