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So
after so many years, almost 7 (not consecutive) we finally
are leaving Misawa AB, and headed to Tokyo. Here is the house
we lived in for the past few years.
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Here is Teresa and Newton
watching the movers come to pack us up and move us to Tokyo.
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Our goods are to be shipped
on Japan Railways, and thus the movers came by with two rail
containers.
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We had packed most of
the things in our house already, but they wrapped the appliances
and last big items.
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Here is the boxes we had
already packed. I'll tell you, packing up is alot of work!
And we had a small house too!
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The movers decided to
load the truck from one of our windows. Made sense actually!
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Out the window and into
the container.
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Fortunately we only filled
half of each container, so there was alot of room left over...just
in case!
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I drove down to Yokota
Air Base a week in advance of our official move. A few days
after we got packed out. I drove down in our Rocky, leaving
the snow of Misawa for a warmer Tokyo.
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It was kind of windy,
but here is Yokota Air Base in March. In the distance is Mt.
Fuji. Sadly, due to the haze, you can only see it once or
twice a month from the base.
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Back to Misawa I went
on a train, and a few days later our good friend Debra took
us out to lunch in Hatchinohe.
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The staff very kindly
took a group photo of the three of us. Leaving good friends
like Debra is the hardest part of leaving.
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Here is our new home!
It is about a fourth smaller than our Misawa House, and it's
a bit more expensive too. But, it's new, clean and next to
a large state park called Showa.
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We got to Tokyo just in
time for the Cherry Blossoms to come out. We walked from the
base to the Tama River, and walked along the jogging path
taking in the thousands of cherry trees.
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There were thousands of
trees, and thousands of people. The weather was pretty nice
for April. Not like the cold wet Misawa weather in April we
were used to.
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Walking back to the base,
we stopped at the Fussa Train Station and hit the Starbucks
establishment! It tasted pretty darned good!
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A week or so later we
went to the Showa Park, which is located 20 feet out our front
door! The park is about 500 acres.
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We have to go in a gate
of course, and pay 400yen (@$3.50) to get in for the day.
The flowes and the colors are magnificent!
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Pictures just don't do
it justice.
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The white in the middle
is actually a large collection of cherry blossoms on the pond
surface.
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Another shot of one of
many many ponds.
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There must have been about
10 thousand visitors while we were there. There are alot of
bike paths, and picnic locations.
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You can see how pale I
am, too many years in the cold climate I guess.
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One last shot of the park
as we call it a day and head back home. Just a short walk
from the gate of course!
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