We’ve go to Deep Cove a few times, but it is very nice to go around the small town there. Check the foods (Gelato shop there is so good!), shopping and taking the beach.
Jacob made me laugh!
Took the boys to look at some bugs and stuff! LOL.
The Berkeley Science Museum is pretty cool
English Bay beach is gorgeous. Vancouver is littered with awesome beaches.
Quite a few of them have been set up with log benches or seats.
Additionally, there is the famous Tree on top of the building too.
Like many big tourist cities, San Francisco has many things to offer. Golden Gate is iconic here and to make sure that people get their pictures and enjoy it, there are many places to view the bridge with photo opportunities available.
Just south of the bridge, along the beach, there are tons of trails and parks.
One is Golden Gate Lookout.
It’s Halloween again! This time we wanted the boys to have fun, so we found a pumpkin patch and a maze near Sacramento.
You could see a huge Godzilla and pumpkin from the freeway.
This was a cool and fun thing. They had a cow tractor ride, corn sand box and of course bales of hay for kids to climb.
We stopped by the Glendalough Monastic settlement. It is south of Bray less than an hour.
It is an old Christian settlement. Ancient from 6th century.
Visiting the west coast of Ireland from Bray (on the east) was almost a 3 hour drive.
We visited a few things out that way and one of the things that is hard not to see in Ireland are Castles.
Dunguaire Castle was on the way and I had to see it.
As we were driving throughout Ireland, I noticed that rural areas had many rock fences.
I was simply amazed and when I saw an older gentleman building one, I stopped and asked him.
He probably was weirded out by it, but he could tell I am OBVIOUSLY not from Ireland.
Nonetheless, it is really interesting to see people use their natural and local resources to make something.
North Vancouver BC has some very gorgeous spots. Even on an overcast day, we went to Cates Park and had a picnic. After going across the bridge to North Vancouver, you take the Dollarton highway east.
A lot of parking and a decent amount of bbq set ups. Canoe and paddle board rentals since you are near the Indian Arm and Vancouver Harbour.
When I decided to go to Japan, I wanted to meet my friends and see as much as possible, focused car and Japanese culture. The culmination would lead to the 31st Anniversary Leopard meeting in Hakone.
I say pilgrimage because Tanaka san (Kazuho) told me last year that this is the 31st year of the release of F31 Leopard.
1986-2017= 31 years.
So I said I wanted to make in symbolic by including any 31 cars. R31 Skyline, A31 Cefiro, Z31 Fairlady, Y31 Gloria, Cima, or Cedric and F31 leopards. Kuze san then told me that Carshop Friend (Leopard shop) would be holding the 31st Nissan Leopard meeting, parade and cruise in Hakone.
My dry sense of humor called this Wandering Leopard Pilgrimage
Wandering – since I would be traveling Japan to different areas for 9 days.
Leopard – While I did base this on meeting Leopard owners, it wasn’t exclusive.
Pilgrimage – the journey to and within Japan.
Do you know MMA fighter Enson Inoue? In 2013, he walked across Japan for charity and to raise awareness of the Fukushima tragedy.
This was very inspiring to me and it partially influenced the idea of moving across Japan. Obviously, my journey was more personal and not as important as Enson’s mission.
So I started to plan:
While I focused on meeting my friends as a priority, secondary would be checking out shops, shopping and visiting shrines.
Sunday – Arrival in Japan and to Takamatsu
Monday – Okayama, Hiroshima, Iwakuni, Yamaguchi and back to Hiroshima
Tuesday – Hiroshima, Osaka and Shiga
Wednesday – Gifu, Nagoya and Sendai
Saturday – Yokohama and Daikoku Futo
Sunday – Hakone to 31st Leopard meeting
Monday morning Japan – Leopard cruise to Mishima Skywalk Bridge
Monday afternoon – America