Tour Tokyo With Hello Kitty

Would you want to go around Tokyo with Hello Kitty?

A must for Hello Kitty fanatics, riding these double-decker Hato bus with Hello Kitty everywhere, on the exterior and the interior. I'm guessing there's bound to be Hello Kitty under your butt too, when you sit. (^o^)

Who says you can have too much Hello Kitty exposure, especially when you are in Japan! d(>w<)b

Empty...

Believe it or not, you can find empty trains in Japan. It's not all rush-hour crush boarding them all day long! ^^

and to accompany the empty train photos I loaded up here, here a video from JYJ.

I love Japan and all that, but I'm nuts over Korean guys! *^-^*

White Fence Farm, Denver ( Littleton) CO

Built on 80 acres, this used to be a farm and cattle ranch and opened in 1973.  The restaurant can accommodate up to 600 folks. 

They do not take reservations but have a unique system to notify guests when the table is ready.  This allows everyone to wander the grounds and enjoy the duck pond, petting zoo, a corral where the animals can be fed, the gazebo to sit and relax, the gift shops, and a carriage ride.

They are famous for their fried chick so alot fo the decor is chickens and roosters!

One room is called the Back Porch and there is live entertainment for everyone to enjoy while waiting for their table.  There is also a beverage bar and candy counter.

Once seated and our meal was ordered, our very friendly waiter Sean, brought us the appetizers - pickled beets, cottage cheese, corn fritters, cole slaw and kidney bean salad.

Most food is served family style.  Each person who orders chicken gets a whole 1/2 chicken.  Absolutely fabulous.

We went with friends and his birthday and mine are on the same day so we got ribbons that said it was our birthday. It was fun to see how may Leo's were there celebrating and we could wish each other a Happy Birthday.

 After dinner we went on a short carriage ride around the property. 

This truck is parked but we are told they did deliver, back in the day. 


Fun restaurant, beautiful, clean property, and family owned who make all the guests feel like they are visiting their home.

Bessho Onsen Night Walk

Let's see. I had posts on Tokyo Walks, Osaka Walks, Kawasaki Walks on this blog before.

Time for Bessho Onsen walk segment, I say. ^^

After having our bath and dinner at the hotel we were staying in at Bessho Onsen; we had this bright idea of going out and checking out the neighbourhood again. We strolled around the town earlier in the day but didn't managed to cover all the places that we wanted to see.

Visiting a deserted Kitamuki Kannon Temple in early evening and was greeted by this upon reaching to top of the stairs.

Passed by a "soto-yu" (public bath). Entry to the public baths here (there are four?, I think) is 150yen.

We later decided that it might be fun to visit the Anrakuji Temple, with its octagonal pagoda so off we went, walking into darkness. Not a soul in sight and we were just accompanied by the sound of barking dogs. The temple actually closes at 5.00pm but we figured that we might get a glimpse of the pagoda even at night.

Along the dimly lit path towards Anrakuji Temple. We didn't made it all the way to the Temple though. It started to rain halfway there so we had to run back and look for shelter. And I was wearing a "getha" to complement my "yukata". Not a great outfit for running. xD

and found shelter from the rain at a foot bath area. Sitting there dipping our feet and enjoying the nice, hot water watching the area. Man, this is one quiet town at night. Not that I'm complaining though.

OLA: Taking Much Needed Breaks!

Bill, waiting to be moved to the Operating Room

My children say I am wearing Bill out and think we need to take a break from all this travelling!  Sure enough, even the RV needed a break!  M’A ‘turn had been having problems with its front A/C system since we took it out of storage upon our arrival from Asia and begin this trek southeast.   During this sizzling summer even at our northern locations, the heat sometimes became unbearable and we have definitely needed a tip-top cooling system in place!

there's a leak!

It was Camping World in Council Bluffs, Iowa that first looked at the RV problem.    Our contention was that the roofing system they put in in the Fife, Washington branch before we left for Asia messed up the circuit board. They finally replaced the circuit board but the problem persisted.  The branch in Island Lake, Illinois eventually installed a new system. But while camping in the White Oaks Resort at Monticello, Indiana, days of rain and constantly running the A/C revealed leaks around the unit! We brought her to the Greenwood, Indiana Camping World.  They easily fixed that problem.

The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio

But my kids are right…it is Bill that needed the real break! We went to The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio just 2 hours away to have Bill’s right knee checked out by Dr. Marc Schneider.   It had been bothering him well before we went to the Philippines and his family doctor in Washington recommended that he see an orthopedic surgeon.   They provided the test results and indeed Bill was scheduled for arthroscopic surgery in 3 days!   We quickly checked in at the Indian Lakes Resort in Batesville, Indiana, 45 minutes away from the hospital! 

Dr. Schneider making preliminary checks

We scheduled ourselves to stay in Indian Lakes for 3 weeks (the maximum stay given our platinum membership at the Thousand Trails network of campgrounds) and then for another 3 weeks at the Wilmington Resort in Wilmington, Ohio, also 45 minutes away from the hospital.   We had considered having the procedure done in Florida where we will be staying for 3 months this winter but this is something that was long overdue!

I had barely sat down in the Waiting Area, fiddling with my computer when they called out…’Colborn family’!   My heart jumped, ‘Did they need me for some decision?’ It turned out that the procedure was done, also in a jiffy! The doctor talked to me

already at work in the recovery room

that all went well and soon I was at Bill’s bedside in the Recovery Room. That afternoon Bill was walking about and didn’t much need the crutches we had bought.   The biggest problem we had was actually of a very different nature!

I have been deathly afraid of American roads (except inside campgrounds) since the day I got here in March of 2004!  Actually I bought a Honda Civic in 2007, got a drivers’ license (without taking a road test, just a written one), and got involved in 3 separate crashes within 3 months…all in the garage area: destroying my son-in-law’s garage, denting my daughter’s car, and bumping into the landscaper’s truck!   Bill finally decided…there would beabsolutely be no more driving for me.

ready to go home

In the Philippines the roads are narrow, traffic slow (mostly unmoving), and I almost always had a driver. But now, I had to drive from the hospital to Indian Lakes after the surgery.   Bill and I spent looooong hours studying our Road Atlas to look for back roads I can use.   The day before the surgery we practiced a route that took me 2 ½ hours to navigate and gave me oodles of stress!   One time I almost drifted totally to the fields on the right when Bill was trying to discuss something with me.

While Bill was recovering, I took another look -- this time at Google Maps -- to find a shorter, easier route.   Eureka, I found one!   With only 2 stops to ask for directions (since I did not have the benefit of practice time), it took me 1 ½ hours and the fastest I had to drive was 50 mph!  Bill is now in Dreamland:   his knee is getting healed, he will be able to do more of his fave strenuous activities, and he will have much needed breaks from driving…for that day…driver Carol was born! 

the new me!

Next Stop: Standing at the Crossroads of America: Indiana

Keeping Track Of Expenses While On Vacation

Zaini doesn't care about our balancing our daily expenses back home (that's my job), just that when we are on vacation, he did all the daily reconciliation without fail.

The reason being, we didn't want to overspend on things that we run out of cash way before our last day in Japan! We always have a strict budget and we follow the budget pretty well. And no, we don't use our credit card there.

For those who don't know - that's a train ticket in the photo above. Pretty small and I was always petrified about losing them so I always, always passed my tickets to Zaini for safekeeping.

But how do we keep track on non-receipted expenses? Easy! Just take a photo of it and check the photos when we are doing our balancing. ^^

Anyway, good thing that stuff in Japan are priced pretty standard everywhere too. And thank goodness for digital camera!

And all the extras $$$, we splurge on the last few days of our vacation! :)

El Paso County Fair, CO July 2011

The El Paso County Fair is held the last week of July in Calhan, CO - about 35 miles east of Colorado Springs.  We had two spaces and were lucky to have fantastic neighbors. 

In one booth we write names on rice, put the rice into a glass vial and make a necklace or key chain. The other side was "Cool Downz" Scarfs, our pretty long scarves that are on eBay, "No Headache" sun visors and shoelaces.

It is just like the old fashioned fairs of my childhood with some updates. Mostly about the 4-H and the kids animals - showing, be judged and finally selling at the livestock auction on the last Sat. 

Even the girls rode the mechanical bull.

Sparky visited for a few hours!

Euro Bubbles now called Walk on Water Bubbles!

Draft horses pulled up to 7500 pounds

Looking down the main 'street'.  We are the last booth on the left end.

Our 2 booths with the curly fries booth next to us.

There was so much more to this fair but we were not able to leave to get photos.  It is a fun time for families, kids and everyone else. 

PS Added 8/22/11 - We are very appreciative for the note the fair sent us thanking us for our participation.  It is the1st time in our 14 years of doing state and county fairs we have gotten a note with a hand written side note.  It really means alot. Thank you Janice and Sherry.