Part Three Nikko Trip -Kinugawa River

The last part of the trip entailed a river boat ride down the Kinugawa River. Above is a map that marks out where all the "famous" rock formations will be as you head down river. We were to see Tate-iwa (shield rock), Zou-iwa (elephant rock), Gorira-iwa (gorilla rock), Gunkan-iwa (battleship rock) and Tsumiki-iwa (block rock). By this time are you guessing you know the Japanese word for rock - iwa? Maybe you are right maybe not I have no idea but that would be my guess as well.





Here is what we saw as we waited - a truck coming up the road with the boats! I was expecting a ferry boat type ride. Anyone want to hope on and "fly" down to the river? We decided to take the 100 steps down instead.





Our chariots await:)

Again Dylan had the opportunity be a boy playing with rocks as we waited.

We are about to push off.

Again my frame of reference really tripped me up. Expect the Unexpected when it comes to living in a foreign country!

When signing up for this trip I thought Dylan would love a ferry boat ride - uhmm note to self don't assume!!!Remember this is a FOREIGN country/culture.
Oh yes so river boat rides in Japan include no seats you sit on the bottom of the boat...

two oarsman - one in the bow the other in the stern...

and a plastic sheet to hold up to keep you dry as your river boat takes the white water areas at a slightly faster clip. :)

This rock formation wasn't listed but it looks like a Japanese bear-iwa to me:) Ok work with me the giant bear is laying down and all you can see is his head.

Gorira-iwa

Zou-iwa

End of the line. This boat ride was fabulous when it came to the views of God's creation. Not much in the way of a comfortable ride but nevertheless splendid!

Another lovely time investigating our host country! At the end of the day when I was rocking my sweet son I cried. Tears of gratitude ran down my cheeks as I held Dylan close. The pictures that I have posted and chosen to share with you all don't capture the best part of my day. Out of the hard times, kinks and a tired one year old came the true beauty of our trip.

As I mentioned before we left the base at 4am, we had to be out of the house by 3:45am to arrive in time. I thought surely my dear son would fall asleep with the sweet vibrations of the bus especially since it was dark inside and out. No Dylan had other plans. Thankfully since his plans including being awake they also included being sweet and relatively quiet. Two hours into the ride Dylan had barely drifted off to sleep when the sweet vibrations stopped, we were at the rest stop and Dylan was ready to go. As you can see I am laying the ground work for the tired one year old portion of the trip.

We arrived at Tosho-gu shrine and began to take in all the architectural beauty. Being a little camera happy I was snapping picture after picture. I truly love digital cameras because I feel free to take tons of pictures without wasting money on the development. I had even packed an extra set of batteries in my bag but alas when I went to change the batteries at the Shrine I realized my error. I had picked up the rechargeable batteries from my bag which had not been charged. Oh my - I had not even taken pictures from the Parade yet. At this point everyone was venturing off on their own. I spotted a fellow tourist from our bus and asked if he has seen our guide. He had not but offered the use of his cell phone for me to call her. This was something new our guide gave us her cell number. On our Mt Fuji trip we weren't given contact information. Upon speaking with the guide, sharing my problem and explaining I thought I had extra batteries on the bus, she contacted the bus driver. The driver would meet me at the bus in 15 minutes allowing me to get my batteries. Dylan and I started the hike back to the bus - have I mentioned before that space and parking is a commodity in Japan. We made it back to the bus, got new batteries and made it back to the parade grounds before it started.

Dylan was not impressed with the parade and slightly out of sorts by lunch time. I have realized that Japanese restaurants do not have high chairs. This time our guide said lets see and if they don't I will go back to the bus and get your stroller. Of course they don't have a chair for Dylan and I know better than to try and have him sit in a adult chair without a belt. See Daddy we need you for more than one reason - you always wear a belt mom doesn't:) Dylan who is full of raisins from the parade, sick of being held or restrained (he was in his stroller for the parade) starts to act up. With the thrashing legs there goes the soy sauce all over someone else's table that we were standing by waiting on the stroller. A few ladies from our tour bus helped to clean up the mess and mommy kept smiling because my Lord give me the grace:)

On to the river boat ride, It is around 3pm and Dylan has only slept 20-30 minutes since 3:45am. Understandably he is tired - hey I was even tired! It was also nap time. Ok parents I know you are hearing the recipe for disaster. Yes the recipe was there but thank the Lord there was no oven or flame to get the end result. One of our guides helped me change Dylan from the front to the back to the front in our snugli. She was so precious to help! Anything to try and get sweet Dylan to be content. This dear lady even took off my shoes and put them back on me since you can't wear them in the boat!!!! Oh boy what a servants heart she has - I didn't want to accept that help. It was then I reminded myself she would be blessed for her kindness to a child of the King.

Back in the bus the day is over and sleep should come easily. No my dear friends and family we are talking about a pre-toddler - when you are over tired you can't sleep. Dylan stayed an ornery sort of needing entertainment awake for 3 hours of our bus ride home. There were episodes of screaming due to a nasty diaper rash and a couple stinkies. Yours truly who bit the bullet and sang Amazing Grace to her son since it helps calm him. If you know how tune deaf I am you realize why I said bit the bullet - rather humiliating to sing in public. I tried whisper singing though so the windows would not blow out of the bus:) A few rows back a boy became very ill so I passed our wipes back to help clean up the mess. Finally my dear son fell asleep as we watched Baby Einstein's orchestra on his portable DVD player. About an hour of rest for the weary then we were back to the base.

Once we arrived back it was raining why every time after a MWR trip is it raining? Not a big deal unless you realize a few things. I have no car. I have to bring Dylan's car seat for the bus. I also have to bring diapering essentials, the camera, items to entertain my son and a few things for mom. When I say a few I am serious - wallet, lip gloss and hand sanitizer. Oh yeah and don't forget the snugli carrier and stroller. Needless to say I am loaded down. As I started to pull my gear together - I do have a system, a couple who sat diagonally behind Dylan and I offered us a ride home. What a blessing. Not only did we make it home dry and fast but I was encouraged. The lady who has two grown sons of her own said she wished more parents had the patience I did. I was then able to tell her it was not my patience but the Lord providing the patience I needed in every situation along with tons of prayer. Once at the tower instead of dropping me off in front, these two angels carried all of my "stuff" up to our home and all I had to carry was a very sleepy Dylan.

My tears of gratitude came not because of our guide and bus driver who helped me get my batteries, the soy sauce cleaning ladies, our guide with the precious servant attitude who helped me with my shoes or even the couple who helped me home but because I have a Heavenly Father who cares. Where does good/good actions come from? The Bible says that only God is good thus all good comes from Him. I love what C.S. Lewis has to say about this in his book Mere Christianity. "You may say 'I've never had the sense of being helped by an invisible Christ, but I have often been helped by other human beings.' That is rather like the woman in the first war who said that if there were a bread shortage it would not bother her house because they always ate toast. If there is no bread there will be no toast. If there were no help from Christ, there would be no help from other human beings. He works on us in all sorts of ways: not only through what we think our 'religious life' "