Well, really they catch my attention when I am in the passenger seat.
When I am in the driver's seat, I often feel like I am playing a game of chicken with the other cars.
His car's bigger, I'll scoot over. Oh no, curb there so he has to scoot over. Have mercy, curbs on both sides and three bikers... never mind I am parking and taking the bus!
I am gaining gray hair and losing years of my life to the stress of a local road nicknamed "suicide hill". It is not my name for the road. It has been called that for years. It's moniker comes from the fact that you have to put your 'life in danger' to drive on the hill. It is THAT skinny. I'm not kidding. It is like so skinny a pregnant woman couldn't turn sideways. So skinny, you have to pull in your mirrors and rub the curb.
It was while we were going down this hill recently when my youngest chick decided to ask me, "Momma, have you ever been in a crash?"
Her timing was... well, appropriately annoying.
We made it down the hill, but not before praying several times!
Then, we had to have the discussion of when to ask 'crash' questions.
I am safely out of the car and back in the hotel. Now, I get to share with you some more pictures from our adventures.
The trains here are ah-maz-ing, but in order for the trains to travel the cars must pay attention. Much like in the USA, when a train is coming the alarm sounds and the bars come down. There are some differences here though. First, notice the red arrow on the lefthand side? That is how you know which way the train is coming from. It is not uncommon for the arrow to change and a second train come through as you are waiting on the first train to finish. Confused? Me too. Hold on, it gets worse.
The bars are 'moveable' and soft. This is so if you get caught in the middle when a train comes, which happens a lot around here, then you can slowly drive forward to escape. The bar will raise up slowly just over your car before it comes back down. The bars do not scratch your car when you 'push' them out of the way because they are soft. This also helps them not to break or get damaged when cars 'move' them.
It is very alarming to start to pull on to the tracks, hear the alarm and have the bars start coming down!! It takes your breath away because you think you are going to be forced to 'break the bar' like you would in the US. Alas, no problem, just slowly drive forward and it will move over your car. (This has not happened to me directly. The instructors and wives talk about it, but I have not seen it yet.) Thank you Lord!
It is rainy season, and boy does it ever rain! When you are driving around you see a ton of clear umbrellas. What a great idea! Their walkways are narrow, so having a clear umbrella allows people to stay covered without bumping into other. It also helps them watch out for trains!
Many locals have these spacesuits rain-suits they wear during the season. It goes over all of their clothes. Men, women, walkers, bikers... everyone wears these things! They come in several colors are are for sale cheap all over the place. We would be way too worried about fashion to wear these things in the US. Then again, we don't have weeks of rain on end either.
Most of the time around the major military bases you will see signs that look like this:
You can pretty much tell where you are supposed to go. You can also see underneath the Japanese there is English on the signs. God Bless Japan! They are trying to incorporate English into a lot of their world.
But then, when you least expect the craziness, you see a sign that looks like this:
WHAT?
Where I am supposed to go?
Do you want me to fly over the highway?
Driving here is an education!
And, did you notice the power lines? They are not buried. I did not even realize why the intersections looked ... crowded. I knew there was something different, but after a few lights it hit me that it was all the power lines. I'm not sure when we decided to bury them in the US, but great choice to who ever came up with that one!
Can you tell where we are supposed to turn by looking at the picture?
You should hear my poor GPS! She can not figure out how to read Kangi!
Neither can I, sweet Siri girl!
She will say, "in 0.7 miles turn left at ......... " then NOTHING!
It's like she just turned off.
At first, I was looking at the device and wondering if I had hit the volume switch. Nope.
She just is smarter than me. She doesn't even attempt to say the next word.
I tell Matt, " in 0.7 miles turn left at the Mt. Fuji looking one".
He is starting to understand my crazy made up characters, too! We are in so much trouble when I am navigating this Crew!
The tollroads look similar to the crazy Jersey turnpikes. (Love my Jersey boy!) You can see the three lanes on the left are open. They take Yen. The ones on the right take the ETC, an electronic pass linked to your credit card, which is like our 'Easy Pass" on the east coast.
You drive through and grab a ticket that looks something like this:
No, I do not know what is says.
I DO know that the toll was over $9! We had to pay it both directions.
Plus, $3 for a bridge both ways. Ouch!
After you get on the tollroad you do not expect to see roads like this though!
I didn't expect to see rice fields like this either. But, it was really cool!
I was glad that this guy wasn't after us.
Yes, there are motorcycle cops in Japan.
No, they do not look like the blonde guy from CHIPS.
(You can't blame a girl for trying!)
I am not sure Matt could get anywhere near breaking the sound barrier when the highest speed allowed is a whopping 80 ... 80 KM that is!
Which is not even 50 MPH.
I, literally, cannot drive 55 MPH!
Did the songwriter write that when he was visiting Japan?
They can't really speed because the island is just too packed. We were so excited to see the "80" sign! It does feel pretty fast to go 50 MPH after we have been driving 20 MPH- yes I mean 20 MPH- for weeks!
The speed limits make me miss Texas highways. No, it makes me miss the German Autobahns!
By far, the cutest, most adorable things we have seen driving around are...
Until next time I jump in the car or visit a new store,
Stay Strong & Don't speed,
~ Aggie Amy
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