Saturday Bike Ride 3/29

Stan leaving our building. Although the painting is finished on the other side (where we live), this side is still "wrapped," with the scaffold underneath. This is a common practice in Japan to protect pedestrians from debris & paint overspray. The scaffold is attached to the building, we think--in case of earthquake. This is the final side to be redone. Soon our entire building will be finished and uncovered!



That's the "Great Wall of Iwakuni" which has been under construction since last summer. I think it's a nice addition to the main street on base. It really gives privacy to the families who live in these houses & looks very Japanese, with it's tile roof & several "gates" along the way. Although I've been offbase on my bike many times since my TKR surgery last July, this is the first time I've taken a long bike ride. It's a gorgeous day & I'm ready!



We've left the base now are are taking the shortcut to our sushi restaurant. I thought this traffic mirror made an interesting shot.

Bedding airing out on an upstairs balcony.


Look at this gorgeous shrub! (I can't remember what it is . . .)


After a short ride, we've arrived at our favorite sushi restaurant. Yum!

After a delicious lunch, we're full of sushi and ready to roll! We're planning to visit a shrine where my chigerie sensei, Emiko-san, has some work on display. Then, we're headed to the Kintai Bridge to see the cherries.


Spirea (bridal wreath) in bloom.


I like the nice wide sidewalks here. Right after this, Stan had a blowout, which sounded like a gunshot! Now, we have to find a bike shop.

Walking (actually I'm riding VERY slowly) across another bridge.


The tide is in & there are a few boats.


Poor Stan! At least there are guardrails on each side of the sidewalk here.

Look closely -- you can see Stan's tire is off the rim . . .


Passing by a school.


A tulip magnolia in bloom.

We found a very small bicycle repair shop along this very busy street that leads to 3-corners. There's no sidewalk here & a VERY narrow bike lane!


The repairman carefully examines the tube.

He carefully glues on a patch.


Margie (an innocent bystander) looks on. The shop was actually too small for the bicycle to be repaired inside, so we're all out on the street!


He carefully rolls on the patch.

This tiny shop is certified.


Not sure what this stands for, but it suits Stan . . .


Bad news when the repairman finds more damage to the tube & tire. He doesn't have a replacement, so we will have to find another shop.

This little bent-over lady still walks (with help of her walker) on this busy street. Her walker looks like a stroller, but it is a walker with wheels & you can sit when you get tired! Ingenious!



We decided to get off the busy street & take this little alley behind the bicycle shop.



There's another bicycle similar to mine! I LOVE my 3-wheeler, and have no intention of ever having to balance a 2-wheeler again. It took me a while to get used to it, but now I love it & can make very good time. And with my front and large back basket, I can haul most anything!

This is a much better path to ride our bikes on (well, of course Stan is still walking his). It's very quiet down this little street.


Looking between the buildings toward the busy street that we were just on.


Look at this beautiful roof decoration.

It's good luck to have a pine bough grow across the entrance to a house.

This lady has her groceries and flowers on the back of her motorscooter.

We found another bicycle shop, where they have a larger inventory. We hope they have a tire to fit Stan's bike here.

Stan is enjoying chatting with the bicycle repairman.


Yow! Look at the damage to his tire!


He does have a tire & tube, so Stan is very happy to not have to walk any more today!

As we start across the bridge toward the shrine, I'm looking down at one of the gardens beside the river.


Riding on the protected sidewalk as we cross the river. That's Stan in blue ahead of me.


Look how blue the water is today from the bridge. There are lots of bridges in Iwakuni!

We found a place to park our bikes before starting up the steep driveway to the shrine & hotel.


This is a beautiful foo dog welcoming us as we start up the stairs alongside the narrow driveway.


Statues & lanterns along the driveway . . . As we make our way up to the top, the view of the river just gets better & better.

Near the top of driveway & looking down toward the river. We've passed under a stone torii gate.


Yow! Now we have to climb all these stairs!


These are the side walls of the stairway.

We found a very large parking lot at the top of the stairs. Straight ahead is a shrine, with several buildings.





A couple of children purifying their hands and mouth to enter this sacred place.

Look at the pretty sculptures at the bottom of this lantern. Those are wooden prayers for sale on the orange frame behind.


Closeups.