We've made it back inside the base & although we've already been on a long ride today, neither of us was ready to go home, so we've decided to ride around the perimeter road. We've heard that the Mac Dome is scheduled to be razed, so we rode by. Spring Bazaar was held here recently, and so far, it's still intact.


Continuing on the perimeter road . . . I've always thought of this road as a giant circle, but when I looked on Google Earth recently, it's really more like a long, narrow oval. We've heard (rumor mill?) that part of it is now closed, so we'll see how far we can go.

This part of the road is new and heads directly toward the new tower. The old road is over to our left, so this makes the oval even flatter.


As we approach the tower, there's a new tunnel that takes us under a runway taxiway. Cool.


Oh it's very steep! Well, I can ride down, but not fast enough to ride up the other side, so Stan's pushing my bike up for me. I'm such a chicken!


Looking back into the tunnel.

There's Stan at the top with my bike as I walk up slowly. Thanks, Stan!


A little further along and we're where the Japanese planes sit.


A large new structure - not sure what it is. It's been a while since we've been over here.


We had heard (through the rumor mill?) that the seawall and/or the road was closed on this side of the base, but all we found was this gate & warning signs, which are new & all ready to go.

We have a green light, so we can go.


Looking across the new runway from the south end. Don't know when it's supposed to open.


The road has moved since the last time we rode out here. We can see where we want to go, but the roads make us go around and around! Stan suggested we cut across this field . . . but we didn't.


Look at this cool street lamp . . .


Cool. What do you suppose these do?

Ah - after a few twists and turns, we've made it to a potty stop at the pavillion area. Hooray!


There's the fire tower with a firetruck underneath. Yes, that's the same tower that Stan climbed a couple of years ago. He didn't offer to today though . . .


Stan's enjoying his canned peach juice while we rest a few minutes. Japanese drinks taste like the real thing - no artificial flavors or colors . . . ?


One of the Japanese sea planes is on display here. It used to sit in another park off the main road, but that area no longer exists with all the new runway construction that's been going on the past few years.


Looking inside the very nice pavillion where we're resting. There are kitchens on either end and lots of drink machines and tables. There was one family here when we first arrived, but they've already left.

Lots of people fishing along the ship dock - no ships here today.


Daddy showing his two little girls "something" . . . Made me a little nervous to see the children so close to the edge, but everyone was careful.


Back on the seawall to start back toward home. We still have a few miles to go, but we're refreshed from our rest stop.


I love this interesting rip-rap!


That's me on my 3-wheeler. I'm carrying the French bread & whatever we bought earlier on my back basket. As the sun starts down & the wind picks up out here next to the sea, we've put on our jackets & gloves. This is the coolest spring I can remember since we've been in Japan.

That's Stan - as we head back from the new marina road, back to the main perimeter road. I thought that cloud was interesting. It was about this time that he told me his odometer showed we were over 16 km since we left home a few hours ago. My friend Carol in Idaho had challenged me to 20 km when I posted on FB that we rode 10 km last week. Ha, Ha - I think we may make it!


Riding back through the "warning" signs.


The runway navigation markers trail into the sea to guide in the pilots.


Looking to my right, down the existing runway from the south end. Don't know if they will still use this one once the new one opens. It's supposed to be an international terminal, which should mean we could actually fly directly out of Iwakuni - that would be very cool!


And back to my left, there's a closer view of the markers.

Looking back to the "new road" after we make the left turn back onto the main road. All of this land has been reclaimed from the sea since we've been here.


One last sea view before we ride down off the seawall behind the gym, and head for home.


This is our movie theater that shows all the new movies. Looks like the matinee is just letting out. We try to go when there's something we really want to see. It only costs $2.50 so we really should go more often . . .


That's Stan in front of me. We're riding along the golf course, which is my usual path when I go back & forth to the gym. This net on this side helps, but once in a while, a golf ball coming zinging out into the road. I've been lucky so far . . .


And here we are back at our building! When we parked our bikes, Stan said we had gone 20.2 km - hooray! We made it! Now to rest for a while . . . but we'll be up early. Tomorrow (Sunday) is Hikari Market and if the weather is nice, we'll go.

Leisurely 10 km Bike Ride

It's 4/18, a beautiful spring Sunday and we've decided to go exploring on our bikes today. There's a pink dogwood in front of a townhouse near our building, as we head for the Main gate. It would be closer to go out the North gate, but it's closed on Sundays.


We're making a sharp right turn outside the Main gate so we can ride along the fence. Look at these pretty flowers at Sugita, the local auto insurance office.


Thanks Steph! She told me they are Leucojum aestivum - White Bell Flower. Perfect!

Red dwarf Japanese maple.


Looking across a field to a building on the "new" road. Looks like it's closed today. Most businesses have the metal rolling doors, so it's easy to tell.


Interesting billboard on top - above a tailor shop, maybe?

Click "Older Posts" below right to continue . . . . .

A garden with sweet peas - maybe? I don't think it's soybeans.


Look how pretty they are.


Pretty tulips in wooden planters near someone's front door.


A man tilling the soil in his garden. His machine seems much smoother and quieter than it's American counterpart.


Continuing to follow the fence, we're now looking through the chainlink & barbed wire at our building - 1209. We're very close to the edge of the base here & our view from the LR balcony a Japanese neighborhood & the sea beyond.

Over the (slightly rusted) chain-link fence from outside the base, that's our living room balcony & kitchen window on the 5th floor. See my stained glass panel? It's prettier from inside when the sun comes in.


A raccoon dog on someone's front porch. The amazing story about the mythical Japanese Tanuki will give you a real chuckle, but don't forget to arrow back - read MORE HERE!


The road curves to the right alongside the fence. That's Stan patiently waiting for me while I take pictures. We're going to continue to ride along the fence until we come to the river. I saw a photo in the clinic the other day that showed the new runway project (nearly finished!), and at the north end of the runway, there's a large marina along the river, outside the base, so we're going to find it today.


If we were to go straight here instead of to the right, we would end up near the massage chiropractor that helped me so much last year.


This road curves quite a bit to follow the fence. You can go from the Main gate to the Contractor gate, and continue on to the North gate along this road.