May 6, 2016

Friday - Sunny and cloudy - Warm

A good day.

We had a lovely day yesterday.  We took F’s mother out to look at rescue dogs as she’d like another pet.  The place was very cold and crowded, so I think she was rather overwhelmed.  We also took her out for lunch to Mikawa mall.  We had pasta and it was nice.  We didn’t do a lot of talking, but I think it was nice to be out together. 

When we came home after dropping her off, we threw a few clothes in a suitcase and then left for Yamagata.  We didn’t go on the highway and had a lovely trip.  We stopped a few times to stretch our legs and to buy ice cream, compelling reasons to stop!

We checked into the hotel around 4 and then went out after a bit for Starbucks and then dinner.  We asked the front desk for advice and got sent to a fairly decent, but terribly expensive izakaya nearby.  
We came back to the hotel room via the grocery store with a few munchies for the room.

I suggested getting a movie card, which F did.  We watched John Wick which was violent and then followed it up with Kingsmen which was also violent and F fell asleep on.  I went to bed a bit after two as I did a little bit of reading.

This morning we got up before 8 and then went down for breakfast.  The hotel’s breakfast wasn’t bad at all. It wasn’t a gorgeous breakfast, but definitely worth the money.  We checked out after breakfast and then drove to Costco.

I was a bit nervous because I thought Costco would be really crowded, but it wasn’t.  We got a great parking spot, and then went into the store.  I sent F back to the car for our bags and I did a little scouting around.  

We got most of the stuff on my list and a few other things.  The usual suspects are avocados, raspberries, potatoes, bagels, roasts, and a few one time purchases like a new pillow for me and a sunhat for me. We had lunch at Costco too, and then set off for home.

 I told F to see if he wanted anything else in baked goods.  He didn't.

My shopping cart and new hat!!
We stopped briefly at a Yamaya for a few imported foods, and then got back on the road for home.  We made another stop for ice cream, and it was great.  This place that F knows has really incredible flavours of ice cream.  Today I had black sesame and blueberry milk…two flavours on one cone.  Yesterday I had white sesame and cookies & cream.   F had some interesting ones too.  Yesterday he had  camembert cheese and chocolate chip, today it was edamame and wasabi.  That last one clears the sinuses! I slept a lot of the way home, except around Gassan Lake where they had a fountain going for a few minutes.  That was neat.
Man-made fountain.  They turned it off a few minutes later!

I think Yamagata prefecture is quite beautiful.

We got home and put away stuff for the next while.  Then, we relaxed a bit too.  Around 7:30 we went out for dinner.  F’s first choice, an udon restaurant had no parking available, so I suggested another place which was closed…and so on!  We ended up at Gusto where we shared an entree of steak and each had something else too.

We picked up a few groceries at MaxValu and then came home.  We had a fairly quiet evening at home and it’s been nice.  I’m not sure what we’ll get up to tomorrow, but if you come back later, I’ll likely have something to tell you.  Until tomorrow….


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