20th DAY: Blessed Day!

I woke up to a terrific surprise. We hadn’t seen the sun for what seemed like a long time. It was essential to go for a swim in the lake with blue skies like this. The sunlight heating up my skin felt joyous. I lay there soaking up heat like I was a lizard. It didn’t take long until the clouds came back. That was our cue to blow this joint. At least it didn’t rain.

Nigel saw an indoor batting practice place and had the urge to try it. I remember my childhood and how bad I was at hitting so I felt hesitant to go in. I felt more confident after watching him go. You could choose the speed of the pitch, thank god. He chose the 70km/hr machine. It looked like a reasonable speed so I did the same. The machine was very accurate. It even switched up location and speed slightly. I did far better than I ever expected. Even got some better hits than Nigel did. I guess I wasn't as bad as I thought. It was my 2^nd pleasant surprise of the day.

We got to Nagano and it was blazing hot again. We decided to park the scooters at the station and walk to the closest temple. Amazingly, it was free. It was similar to most other temples we’ve seen except for the massive 20 feet wooden guardians at the front door. We took our time and got some nice pictures. Next we went into town for lunch. We were sad to see the Indian restaurant we wanted was closed. We settled for Italian food.

In our short stay in Nagano, I was thoroughly impressed. It is right in the middle of Honshu. It held the 1998 Olympics in surrounding ski hills. It’s the location for the famous macaque monkeys that bath themselves in the onsens (hot springs) and it’s close to many outdoor adventure kind of stuff in the nearby mountains. I’ll without a doubt be coming back to this area for the snowboarding some day.

We drove into the night looking for a campsite that was not tended as usual. It was dark, roped off, and a little creepy looking so we went back to a rest area that Nigel had seen on the way. It was huge! There was even a go cart track, a swimming pool, pond, and walking trails. The best was that there was light so we didn’t have to set up the tent in the dark. We found a quiet spot tucked into the bottom corner next to the bathroom and also a cover for our scooters. It was perfect except for the strange people who like to leave their engines on while they’re taking their rest. I got used to it after awhile. It was a great campsite for the end of a great day!