May 6, 2026

Wednesday - Hot and sunny

I woke up reasonably early this morning. I got up and had a chat with F. I asked him how he was and he said he was feeling better. He said that he’d like to go on the road trip that we talked about going on the weekend. The weather was gorgeous and there was no reason not to go!

We got dressed, F popped out to the store to get something for K’s lunch and then we left. F wanted to be on the road by 10 am and we were. We started out before 10!  We did stop at a convenience store so I could get something for my breakfast and we could both get drinks for the car. 

We drove to a place called Takahata, but stopped for a break at Sagae. We had lunch at a roadside stop in Takahata. I had kara-age and F had niku soba. We liked our meals. Yay.

We ended up at an old quarry in Takahata. We walked around and saw a few places where the stone was taken out of the mountain. I asked F what kind of stone it was and he had to translate it. He said it was tuff and I’d never heard of it. I had to look it up and apparently it is stone that comes from volcanic ash. It looked a bit like sandstone, but more porous. 

Marks on a wall that show the cutting measurements.

Close up of the stone. Some people had put coins in the holes!

After visiting the quarry, we went looking for the old railway station building as it was built out of the quarry’s stone. It took a little bit of driving around to find it, but finally we did. There was a lovely park next to it so F parked the car and we walked around the building. The building wasn’t open, and neither were the trains that were outside, but we enjoyed walking around and having a little look in the windows.

The Old Takahata Railway station

We left and F took us to one more place. We went up to a temple. I have no idea what the name of the temple was, but he drove part of the way up the mountain and parked. We walked up to the temple. I wasn’t sure that I could do it. I did it, but I had to send F on ahead as I couldn’t climb at his speed. It was a lovely little temple in the woods on a hill. I don't know why, but I didn't take any photos of it!

On our way down the mountain, we stopped into a little resting room and had drinks. There was a lovely room with air conditioning, vending machines and tables and chairs. Oh, and clean washrooms! F and I sat for a while and just relaxed before going back to the car. We each had a drink in the building and then bought another drink for the car ride back. Honestly, I still had some of my morning drink left, but it wasn’t cold anymore so I wanted a new drink. 

We drove back to Tsuruoka but stopped in Sagae again for a break. We bought some stuff from their bakery, a treat for both of us and then one to bring back for K. I had a custard pie stick and it was lovely. 

On the way back, we talked about dinner and what to do. I suggested checking the restaurant that we go to in Kushibiki, F agreed. When we got there, it was closed.They’d taken today off by the look of it. No worries. I suggested a couple more places to F, one of which was the Chinese restaurant on the other side of the park. We tried it, they were open and we went in. 

Today we shared 3 dishes and it was nice. We had some fried rice with 5 things in it, some gyoza and a pork/egg/wood ear fungus stir-fry thing. It was very good. We left after our meal and then headed to the grocery store.

At Mina we went in and did our shopping. I’m going to do chicken drumsticks tomorrow and have them with salad and a vegetable. I’m not sure if F made rice. I think I mentioned it to him, but he might have forgotten. Oh dear!

We came back to the house and I put away the groceries and then headed upstairs. I had to change my clothes and then I went downstairs and did up the garbage. We haven’t had any garbage pick up this week, so we really needed to get the burnable stuff out today. K had piles of it. I got the garbage from the drain and even cleaned part of the sink for good measure in the kitchen. 

I came back upstairs and relaxed in our room with some Youtube. At 11 pm I watched The Irrational again and it was okay. I’ve been enjoying the show but I’ve heard that it has been cancelled. Sigh. 

F went to bed around midnight and I spent a few minutes with him. This has probably been the best Golden Week that we’ve ever spent together here. I am glad that we got out of Tsuruoka, I wasn’t sure that we would. 

Tomorrow F is back at work, but only for one day! He’s got Friday off for personal stuff. I’ll be cooking dinner and we’ll see what else gets done. I’m planning on some laundry as I haven’t done any in almost a week. 

Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….